New York Times
Bits of Mystery DNA, Far From ‘Junk,’ Play Crucial Role
05/09/12 13:09
The ENCODE project undertaken by 440 scientists from 32 labs since 2003 claimed to uncover at least four million gene regulatory elements that were previously dismissed as “junk,” and proposed that at least 80% of the human genome sequence is functional. The group has suggested that this has enormous implications for human health, because many complex diseases such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and celiac disease appear to be caused by tiny changes in hundreds of gene switches. S. Pelech points out that less than 3% of the human genome actually encodes proteins or RNA, and about 8% of the human genome features remnants of viral DNA that were integrated into the genomes of our ancestors over millions of years. He rebukes the notion of 80% of the human genome sequence as being functional and important based on comparative genomics studies with many other species that have revealed extreme ranges in the sizes of their genomes, whilst still having a relatively similar number of genes. Read More...