Mobile DNA: Finding Treasure in Junk

23. A young man with a purpose

The story in this chapter is still ongoing. In the spring of 2006, I met Dustin Hancks for the first time. On first glance, Dustin appeared to be quite a character, but later I learned that he was the real deal. Dustin was applying to the Gene Therapy graduate program at Penn. He was a student at Southern Illinois University and had worked with David Duvernell, who had found a retrotransposon similar to L1 in fish that he called swimmer. During his experience with Duvernell, Dustin had become hooked on mobile DNA. While still an undergrad, he decided that he wanted to do his graduate work on human retrotransposons. So he applied only to the University of Michigan to work with Moran, Johns Hopkins to work with Jef ...