Dark matter made visible before the final cut

Research findings from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine are shining a light on an important regulatory role performed by the so-called dark matter, or "junk DNA," within each of our genes.

Plant genes may lack off switch, but have volume control

Scientists at the University of California, Davis have discovered that DNA sequences thought to be essential for gene activity can be expendable. Sequences once called junk sometimes call the shots instead.

Research team finds important role for junk DNA

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have called it "junk DNA." They have long been perplexed by these extensive strands of genetic material that dominate the genome but seem to lack specific functions. Why would nature force the ...

Saved by junk DNA

VIB researchers linked to K.U.Leuven and Harvard University show that stretches of DNA previously believed to be useless 'junk' DNA play a vital role in the evolution of our genome. They found that unstable pieces of junk ...

Taming the genome's 'jumping' sequences

The human genome is fascinating. Once predicted to contain about a hundred thousand protein-coding genes, it now seems that the number is closer to twenty thousand, and maybe less. And although our genome is made up of about ...

Between the genes -- a making sense of genomic 'dark matter'

A group of University of Toronto scientists have uncovered some of the secrets behind what molecular biologists call "dark matter" transcripts. The findings will be published next week in the online, open access journal PLoS ...

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