Mapping a genetic world beyond genes
Most of the DNA alterations that are tied to disease do not alter protein-coding genes, but rather the “switches” that control them. Characterizing these switches is one of many goals of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project — a sweeping, international effort to create a compendium of all the working parts of the human genome that have not been well studied or well understood. The function of the vast majority of the human genome has remained largely unknown, but the ENCODE project, launched in 2003, set out to change that. Composed of more than 30 participating institutions, including the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, the ENCODE Project Consortium has helped to ascribe potential biochemical function to a large fraction of the noncoding genome. This work has revealed elements that act like dimmer switches, subtly turning up or down a gene’s activity and influencing what parts of the genome are...