Researchers identify biochemical functions for most of the human genome

Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - 16:30 in Biology & Nature

Only about 1 percent of the human genome contains gene regions that code for proteins, raising the question of what the rest of the DNA is doing. Scientists have now begun to discover the answer: About 80 percent of the genome is biochemically active, and likely involved in regulating the expression of nearby genes, according to a study from a large international team of researchers.The consortium, known as ENCODE (which stands for “Encyclopedia of DNA Elements”), includes hundreds of scientists from several dozen labs around the world. Using genetic sequencing data from 140 types of cells, the researchers were able to identify thousands of DNA regions that help fine-tune genes’ activity and influence which genes are expressed in different kinds of cells.Just as the sequencing of the human genome helped scientists learn how mutations in protein-coding genes can lead to disease, the new map of noncoding regions should provide some...

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