Tandem exon duplication

Alright kiddo, so you know how in our body, there are special instructions called genes that tell our body how to work? Sometimes, these genes can have little pieces called exons, which are like small sections of the instruction that tell our body to do specific things.

Tandem exon duplication is when these little sections, the exons, are copied and put next to each other like a little train. So instead of having one copy of an exon in a gene, there are two or more copies lined up one after the other.

Think of it like making a paper chain. You start with one piece of paper, and you draw a picture on it. Then you make a copy of that paper and draw the same picture on it. Now you have two identical pieces of paper with the same picture. But instead of keeping them separate, you tape them together to make a longer chain.

This same thing can happen in our body with the exons in genes, and it can affect how our body works. Sometimes it can be helpful, and sometimes it can cause problems. Scientists study it to better understand how our body functions and how to help people who have health problems related to these kinds of changes.