Most of the eukaryotic genes are mosaic (嵌合体), consisting of intervening sequences separating the coding sequence ◼ Exons (外显子): the coding sequences ◼ Introns (内含子) : the intervening sequences ◼ RNA splicing: the process by which introns are removed from the premRNA. ◼ Alternative splicing (可变剪接): some pre-mRNAs can be spliced in more than one way , generating alternative mRNAs. 60% of the human genes are spliced in this manner