Editor's Summary
14 June 2007
Decoding the blueprint
The ENCODE project — standing for ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements — has set out to identify all the functional elements in the human genome. With the genome sequence now established, the next challenge is to discover how the cell actually uses it as an instruction manual. The ENCODE consortium has completed the 'proof-of-principle' pilot phase of the project, an analysis of functional elements in a targeted 1% of the human genome. The results, published this week, suggest that most bases in the genome are found in primary transcripts, including non-protein-coding transcripts and those that overlap. Examination of transcriptional regulation has yielded new understanding about transcription start sites, and a more sophisticated view about chromatin structure. Integration of these data, in particular with respect to mammalian evolution, reveals new insights about how the information coded in the DNA blueprint is turned into functioning systems in the living cell.
News and Views: Genomics: Encyclopaedia of humble DNA
Researchers of the ENCODE consortium have analysed 1% of the human genome. Their findings bring us a step closer to understanding the role of the vast amount of obscure DNA that does not function as genes.
John M. Greally
doi:10.1038/447782a
Article: Identification and analysis of functional elements in 1% of the human genome by the ENCODE pilot project
The ENCODE Project Consortium
doi:10.1038/nature05874
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (4,575K) | Supplementary information
