October 9, 2012

New York Times Article: Bits of Mystery DNA, Far From ‘Junk,’ Play Crucial Role

Seattle Times author Gina Kolata writes, “Now scientists have discovered a vital clue to unraveling these riddles. The human genome is packed with at least four million gene switches that reside in bits of DNA that once were dismissed as “junk” but that turn out to play critical roles in controlling how cells, organs and other tissues behave. The discovery, considered a major medical and scientific breakthrough, has enormous implications for human health because many complex diseases appear to be caused by tiny changes in hundreds of gene switches.”

UW faculty Dr. John Stamatoyannopoulos is quoted, “The big surprise was not only that almost all of the DNA is used but also that a large proportion of it is gene switches. Before Encode if you had said half of the genome and probably more has instructions for turning genes on and off, I don’t think people would have believed you.”

Read the full article in the New York Times.