Mobile Elements in the Humane Genome

This article does pretty good job of reviewing mobile elements for the uninitiated. The only drawback is that they didn't include endogenous retroviruses as an important component that constitute about 8% of the human genome.

Mobile DNA elements in primate and human evolution

Jinchuan Xing , David J. Witherspoon , David A. Ray , Mark A. Batzer , Lynn B. Jorde

Yrbk Phys Anthropol 50:2-19, 2007.

Abstract: Roughly 50% of the primate genome consists of mobile, repetitive DNA sequences such as Alu and LINE1 elements. The causes and evolutionary consequences of mobile element insertion, which have received considerable attention during the past decade, are reviewed in this article. Because of their unique mutational mechanisms, these elements are highly useful for answering phylogenetic questions. We demonstrate how they have been used to help resolve a number of questions in primate phylogeny, including the human-chimpanzee-gorilla trichotomy and New World primate phylogeny. Alu and LINE1 element insertion polymorphisms have also been analyzed in human populations to test hypotheses about human evolution and population affinities and to address forensic issues. Finally, these elements have had impacts on the genome itself. We review how they have influenced fundamental ongoing processes like nonhomologous recombination, genomic deletion, and X chromosome inactivation.