[7][8] Anthropoid primates, including humans, have a version of the protein fused to a Mariner/Tc1 transposase.

This fusion region provides the DNA-binding abilities for the protein as well as some nuclease activity.

[10][11] However, the domesticated transposase domain retains its ability to bind to the mariner repeat elements in the genome.

[12][13][14][15] SETMAR has been found to affect the expression and splicing of genes close to or containing mariner repeat elements via its functions in histone methylation.

[12][13][15] Both the SET, via its methyltransferase activity,[7][8][16] and the mariner, with its DNA-binding [17] and nuclease activities,[18][19][20][21][16] domains of SETMAR have been shown to act in non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) to repair DNA double strand breaks.