Scientists had previously assumed only 23,000, or ~2%, of our approximately 3 Billion genes are functional at all, because of their active involvement in protein synthesis.
-Which drew the appropriate snort of derision from one Dr. Charles Xavier.
Well the ENCODE project just blew that number right out of the water.
It’s looking more like 80% of the genome is involved in one way or another, especially in a supervisory role. Some of the genes may not be coding proteins themselves directly, but they, like middle-management, are involved in how much of each gets made and when.
If you’re into more details about the more than 30 papers filed by hundreds of scientists, head over to the links and get a bigger picture of how they hope to figure out the future of conquering disease with this new information:
JUMP BONUS!-YT Vid w/ ENCODE Scientists
Photo Credits:
“lots of easter eggs 2”, by Christa Richert
Links:
• Source: TIME-ENCODE Project Results
• More Coverage: ScienceDaily-ENCODE | ENCODE Project Home | ENCODE Results Home
• Source Study: ENCODE Results at Genome.gov
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