The massive spread of repetitive elements in the human genome presents a substantial challenge to the organism, as such elements may accidentally contain seemingly functional motifs. A striking example is offered by the roughly one million copies of Alu repeats in the genome, of which xe2x88xbc0.5% reside within genes untranslated regions (UTRs), presenting xe2x88xbc30 000 novel potential targets for highly conserved microRNAs (miRNAs). Here, we examine the functionality of miRNA targets within Alu elements in 3UTRs in the human genome.