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Genomics

Encyclopaedia of humble DNA

Nature volume 447, pages 782–783 (2007)Cite this article

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.

We usually think of the functional sequences in the genome solely in terms of genes, the sequences transcribed to messenger RNA to generate proteins. This perception is really the result of effective publicity by the genes, who take all of the credit even though their function is basically limited to communicating genomic information to the outside world. They have even managed to have the entire DNA sequence referred to as the 'genome', as if the collective importance of genes is all you need to know about the DNA in a cell.

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  1. John M. Greally is at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. jgreally@aecom.yu.edu,

    John M. Greally

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  1. John M. Greally
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Greally, J. Encyclopaedia of humble DNA. Nature 447, 782–783 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/447782a

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