According to a new study, “junk DNA” is not genetic garbage after all. Researchers at ETH Zurich have shown in a new study ...

For decades, scientists have been puzzled by large portions of the human genome labeled as “junk” DNA, sequences that seemingly serve no purpose. Yet, recent studies suggest these cryptic sequences ...

For a long time, so-called satellite DNA was considered largely worthless. Now, ETH Zurich researchers have shown in fruit ...

Some 8 to 10 percent of our DNA is actually leftover from ancient viruses that co-evolved with animal DNA for hundreds of a millions of years. While scientists have long thought this DNA was “junk,” ...

Imagine the human genome as a string stretching out for the length of a football field, with all the genes that encode proteins clustered at the end near your feet. Take two big steps forward; all the ...

So-called junk DNA was given that unfortunate nickname because its function was so mysterious. These vast regions of the genome do not code for protein and are made up of highly repetitive sequences.

Only around two percent of the human genome codes for proteins, and while those proteins carry out many important functions of the cell, the rest of the genome cannot be ignored. However, for decades ...

A new international study suggests that ancient viral DNA embedded in our genome, which were long dismissed as genetic "junk", may actually play powerful roles in regulating gene expression. Focusing ...