Practice question

Alu elements represent most abundant human repetitive family with over one million copies belonging to SINE class derived from 7SL RNA signal recognition particle component. Each Alu is about 300 bp comprising two diverged monomers linked by A-rich spacer and followed by poly-A tail essential for retrotransposition by LINE-1 ORF2p. Mobilization occurs via target-primed reverse transcription. Alu insertions can create alternative splice sites, introduce polyadenylation signals, and mediate unequal homologous recombination leading to genomic deletions and genetic diseases including breast cancer predisposition.