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As technology develops, scientists are slowly understanding what purpose noncoding DNA in our genomes serves. One category known as pseudogenes is duplicated genes which have been left out due to evolutionary forces.<\/p>\n
However, other sequences often dubbed junk DNA appear to have an effect on how genes are expressed – an effect which could prove essential if individual genes depend on these other sequences to do their jobs properly.<\/p>\n
Junk DNA is the term employed by evolutionists for portions of genomes that do not directly code for proteins, and are believed by them to represent evolutionary vestiges left over from defunct genes or repetitive sequences from through evolutionary history that remain functionally neutral with minimal levels of negative selection affecting them. Junk DNA narrative serves as an effective weapon against intelligent design and Creationism.<\/p>\n
However, despite geneticists acknowledging that nearly every genetic section has some function or another, popular science authors continue to promote the “junk DNA” myth and mislead the general public with an inaccurate view of genomic research that doesn’t align with scientific reality.<\/p>\n
Wells outlines in an easily understandable fashion the key published data that support an idealistic view of genome functioning. He does so historically consistently by detailing how original discoveries paved the way for subsequent research projects that disproved various aspects of junk DNA paradigm.<\/p>\n
He gives as an example an area of noncoding DNA known as transposons, selfish gene segments which invade host genomes and insert themselves at will. He details studies which have now identified subclasses of these TEs; each having an important function within cells.<\/p>\n
One piece of evidence supporting functional neutrality is the high degree of similarity among non-coding segments of genomes in different species, known as sequence conservation. Darwinian theory holds that such areas would have undergone massive mutation over time and thus must remain functionally neutral.<\/p>\n
Wells also discusses the discovery that many non-coding regions serve as templates for producing regulatory RNA, which is produced via transcription from the antisense strand of double-stranded DNA helix. These regulatory RNAs act to regulate gene activity at almost every level. This finding strengthens non-coding DNA’s functional importance.<\/p>\n
“Junk DNA” has long been used by scientists to describe sequences in our genome that do not encode for proteins. While initially thought of as evolutionary leftovers from viruses or dormant genes that have survived through evolution, more recently geneticists have come to appreciate noncoding DNA for its potential roles in cell regulation and regulation of cell functions.<\/p>\n
Though much of our human genome consists of noncoding DNA sequences, only around 2% actually encode proteins. This leaves plenty of “junk DNA”, or duplications and dead ends within our genome that seems pointless compared to humans; bacteria also waste up 20% of their genome space on noncoding sequences that don’t code for proteins.<\/p>\n
Scientists had long casually referred to these regions of DNA as “junk DNA,” but in 1972 geneticist Susumu Ohno coined this phrase more formally and suggested that large genomes contain sequences accumulated over millennia without producing proteins that do not encode proteins.<\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly, much of what was previously considered junk DNA actually serves many important functions, including helping regulate genes, making sure each protein encodes correctly for amino acids, and maintaining genome stability. This is important because mistakes in DNA can cause disease and mutations which lead to mutations.<\/p>\n
Researchers have recently discovered that non-coding DNA can be converted to RNA through transcription. Surprisingly, some of these RNA molecules appear to perform the same functions as their protein-coding gene counterparts – this phenomenon known as gene silencing has been implicated in many diseases including cancer.<\/p>\n
Researchers are beginning to realize that so-called junk DNA can also serve as a form of communication among cells and even between species. Whitehead Institute member Yukiko Yamashita and her colleagues discovered satellite DNA can interact with proteins to keep different chromosomes within a nucleus clustered together and may serve as a means for organisms to exchange information regarding identity and behavior with one another.<\/p>\n
The conventional understanding of junk DNA holds that most genetic material in humans that does not encode proteins is pointless bloat left over from viruses and defunct genes dragged along in evolutionary history, playing no discernible role in shaping human biology. Furthermore, junk DNA has only experienced minimal negative selection thus playing minimal or no role in controlling it.<\/p>\n
Problematic with this theory is its false assumptions regarding genetic code. Instead, noncoding sequences play an integral part in understanding human health and disease; scientists are slowly coming to recognize their regulatory roles in gene expression and protein production; without these regulatory mechanisms in place, their functionality would be severely restricted.<\/p>\n
Scientists now recognize the noncoding regions of our genome must be taken into account when interpreting disease risk in humans. A recent study, for instance, linked mutations in these noncoding regions to autism among patients without known family histories for this disorder; their authors theorized that such mutations likely result from spontaneous errors during gene replication.<\/p>\n
Researchers have also suggested that certain noncoding DNA sequences may play a key role in cancer regulation. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), once considered junk DNA, has now been linked with gene expression regulation in cancer cells – suggesting these could serve as targets for therapy against cancer.<\/p>\n
Junk DNA may serve another potential function by transmitting information between cells. A study by Whitehead Institute member Yukiko Yamashita and her colleagues suggests that a section of repetitive sequences contained within a genome’s repetitive regions are necessary to maintain individual chromosomes within cells’ nuclei; its deletion results in rearrangements associated with diseases like leukemia and lymphoma.<\/p>\n
As more is learned about the significance of noncoding DNA and RNA sequences, our perception that much of our genome is “junk” is quickly evolving. But this growth of knowledge should not be hindered by dogma that discourages investigation of such sequences – after all, as one person’s trash may well be another’s treasure!<\/p>\n
Some researchers established the definition of junk DNA several decades ago: genomic regions which do not directly code for proteins. Junk DNA represents evolutionary vestiges from defunct genes and repetitive sequences dragged along through time, and should therefore have experienced minimal levels of negative selection.<\/p>\n
Some scientific frauds, including former NIH Director Francis Collins, have recently made statements alleging junk DNA even though there has been ample research that proves virtually every region of eukaryotic genomes is functionally vital. Unfortunately, most junk DNA advocates seem more concerned with upholding their dogma rather than informing the public of exciting discoveries regarding how perfectly designed and intricate genomes really are.<\/p>\n
Evolutionary fraudsters often target noncoding DNA features known as pseudogenes for fraudulent activities, usually mistaking them for defective copies of known genes that don’t benefit from natural selection and thus end up labeled junk DNA.<\/p>\n
Wells debunks the widespread belief that pseudogenes are junk, while also showing how they may play important roles in regulating other genes’ expression in our genomes. Thus they represent more than mere useless garbage but instead represent vital genetic resources for cells and an incubator from which new genes may emerge.<\/p>\n
Wells also presents key research that clearly demonstrates that most of the human genome is not junk but instead fully functional, using historical progression as a vehicle for conveying this message. He then delves deeper into each main class of DNA features (TEs, SINEs and ERVs) with regard to their current functions; doing this allows him to demonstrate that cells should use all parts of the genome as resources rather than viewing it all as junk.<\/p>\n