"Junk" RNA may play a role in vertebrate evolution

sumsung submitted, created time 9 months 6 days (www.sciam.com)

Genetic material once dismissed as mere "junk" may in fact be responsible to the evolution of simple invertebrates into more complex organisms sporting backbones, according to a new study.

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One man's junk may be a genomic treasure

bianjie submitted, created time 1 year 4 months (www.eurekalert.org)

Scientists have only recently begun to speculate that what referred to as "junk" DNA -- the 96 percent of the human genome that doesn't encode for proteins and previously seemed to have no useful purpose -- is present in the genome for an important reason. But it wasn't clear what the reason was. Now, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered one important function of so-called junk DNA.

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Junk' DNA Now Looks Like Powerful Regulator, Scientists Find

penguin submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (www.sciencedaily.com)

Large swaths of garbled human DNA once dismissed as junk appear to contain some valuable sections, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of California-Santa Cruz. The scientists propose that this redeemed DNA plays a role in controlling when genes turn on and off.

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