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Tag: "junk" at biology news

New findings challenge established views on human genome

...crete genes, along with a vast amount of so-called junk DNA that is not biologically active. The new data indicate the genome contains very little unused sequences and, in fact, is a complex, interwoven network. In this network, genes are just one of many types of DNA sequences that have a functional i...

Researchers publish first marsupial genome sequence

...not contain genes and that many had referred to as junk DNA until recently. Researchers now know that junk DNA may contain regulatory elements that influence the activity of nearby genes, but the full extent...

Peering into the shadow world of RNA

...late with non-coding regions of DNA, the so-called junk DNA.? One reason for this, Nishikura and others speculate, may be that the majority of these non-coding regions are composed of repetitive sequences of DNA called transposons. The largest class of transposons, known as retrotransposons, have the re...

University of Iowa scientists explore function of 'junk DNA'

...previously known, they also found that some of the junk DNA is not junk at all, but instead consists of sequences that can generate microRNAs. Davidson and her colleague...

Researchers discover that sheep need retroviruses for reproduction

...ntists believed these endogenous retroviruses were junk DNA, he said. "Indeed, these endogenous retroviruses are usually harmless and generally contain mutations that prevent them from producing infectious retroviruses," he said. However, several endogenous retroviruses appear to provide protection f...

What's shaped like a pear and has 2 genomes? Check the pond

... packaged bunch of coding genes, free of so-called junk DNA (noncoding sequences and other extraneous genetic elements) that litter the genomes of many organisms. "Publication of the Tetrahymena genome marks the culmination of a remarkable collaboration within the research community," said Anthony Cart...

Microbe has huge role in ocean life, carbon cycle

...organic matter. "By comparison, humans are mostly junk DNA, with large parts of the human genome having no important function," Giovannoni said. This type of genome streamlining, researchers say, appears to be a major factor in the evolutionary success of SAR11, which they believe may have been thriving...

Rodent social behavior encoded in junk DNA

... these repeating sequences ?once dismissed as mere junk DNA ?in the gene that codes for a key hormone rece...the vasopressin receptor gene. "It was considered junk DNA because it didn't seem to have any function," noted Hammock. Each animal species has its own si...

Chimp genome reveals a retroviral invasion

...of the rest of our genomes -- often referred to as junk DNA -- consists of retroelements: genomic elements that are transcribed into RNA, reverse-transcribed into DNA, and then reinserted into a new spot in the genome. Human endogenous retroviruses make up one class of these retroelements. Retroviruses ca...

Retrovirus struck ancestors of chimpanzees and gorillas millions of years ago, but did not affect ancestral humans

...e genome containing 'retroelements,' also known as junk DNA, found many copies of a gene sequence in the chimp and gorilla genome that didn't appear anywhere in the human genome. They translated that genome sequence into its corresponding protein, and discovered that it was the remnant of a retrovirus, a ...

US life expectancy about to decline, researchers say

...tened beverages and other high-calorie/low-quality junk foods are major contributors to obesity. "These adverse changes in diet have been driven by a multi-billion dollar marketing campaign by the food industry aimed at young children," said Ludwig. "Cutbacks in funding for regular, mandatory PE classes ...

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