Fast forward for biomedical research: Massive DNA encyclopedia scraps the junk

Today, an international team of researchers reveal that much of what has been called 'junk DNA' in the human genome is actually a massive control panel with millions of switches regulating the activity of our genes. Without these switches, genes would not work -- and mutations in these regions might lead to human disease. Discovered by hundreds of scientists working on the ENCODE Project, the new information is so comprehensive and complex that it has given rise to a new publishing model in which electronic documents and datasets are interconnected.

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