Project ENCODE: 80% of human genome has an active role or function * The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) is a public research consortium launched by the US National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) in September 2003.
* The goal is to find all functional elements in the human genome.
* In Sep. 2012 researchers found that
80% of the human genome is biologically active, rather than being mainly junk DNA as once believed.
* In 2001, scientists thought only 20,000 genes comprising about one per cent of the human genome code for proteins. And the remaining genome was at best considered junk DNA! These were the findings of researchers who completed the Human Genome Project, the blue print of human biology.
* ENCODE project has found that not one per cent but 80.4 per cent of the genome has an active role or function. For instance, it could be “promoter” regions where “proteins bind to control gene expression” or “enhancer” regions that “regulate the expression of distant genes.”
* What is a gene
>> According to a paper in Nature by Thomas Gingeras from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and his team, the very meaning of a gene and “minimum unit of heredity” stands questioned.
>> According to conventional thinking, genes are copied (transcribed) into RNA molecules. This then serves as a template for making the necessary protein. But this belief may no longer be valid.
* The ENCODE team found that 76 per cent of disease-associated variants in the non-gene regions are linked to the regulatory DNA.
* This sheds new light on the contributing factors for many diseases. More than changes in the gene per se, diseases may arise depending on changes in when, where and how genes are turned on.
* In 2001, scientists thought only 20,000 genes comprising about one per cent of the human genome code for proteins. And the remaining genome was at best considered junk DNA! These were the findings of researchers who completed the Human Genome Project, the blue print of human biology.
* ENCODE project has found that not one per cent but 80.4 per cent of the genome has an active role or function. For instance, it could be “promoter” regions where “proteins bind to control gene expression” or “enhancer” regions that “regulate the expression of distant genes.”
* What is a gene
>> According to a paper in Nature by Thomas Gingeras from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and his team, the very meaning of a gene and “minimum unit of heredity” stands questioned.
>> According to conventional thinking, genes are copied (transcribed) into RNA molecules. This then serves as a template for making the necessary protein. But this belief may no longer be valid.
* The ENCODE team found that 76 per cent of disease-associated variants in the non-gene regions are linked to the regulatory DNA.
* This sheds new light on the contributing factors for many diseases. More than changes in the gene per se, diseases may arise depending on changes in when, where and how genes are turned on.