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SINEs are present in great numbers in many eukaryote genomes. They are repeated, unblocked, and dispersed throughout the genome sequences. They represent retrotransposons (included in the genome transcripts of intracellular RNA). They constitute more than 13% of the genome of humans and other mammals. They are very useful as markers for phylogenetic analysis, because species exhibit variation in the genomic localization of SINE inserts. (Altukhov and Salmenkova 2002) The most famous SINE family are the Alu repeats typical of the human genome, which are derived from 7SL RNA. Mouse SINE's include B1, the homologue to human Alu, and B2 elements (derived from tRNA).
