So Yer Junk DNA Ain't So Junk After All – 258 days old

[Bad Haircut]

Breakthrough study overturns theory of 'junk DNA' in genome

The international Encode project has found that about a fifth of the human genome regulates the 2% that makes proteins

Long stretches of DNA previously dismissed as "junk" are in fact crucial to the way our genome works, an international team of researchers said on Wednesday.


It is the most significant shift in scientists' understanding of the way our DNA operates since the sequencing of the human genome in 2000, when it was discovered that our bodies are built and controlled by far fewer genes than expected. Now the next generation of geneticists have updated that picture.


The results of the international Encode project will have a huge impact for geneticists trying to work out how genes operate. The findings will also provide new leads for scientists looking for treatments for conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and Crohn's disease that have their roots partly in glitches in the DNA. Until now, the focus had largely been on looking for errors within genes themselves, but the Encode research will help guide the hunt for problem areas that lie elsewhere in our DNA sequence.

The (missing) Link

[ZemaTalon]

Kind of like how OS's have dependencies and settings scattered around all over the place Sure hope this research pays off for us soon.

[Grogan]

Yes Zema, the coding analogy is akin to libraries. (static libraries). When the genetic material is encoded for specific types of cells, functions are "included" in the programming.