Biotech Updates

Scientists Catalogue the Human Genome

September 12, 2012

Scientists of the Human Genome Project have compiled a comprehensive "parts list" of the human genome. This catalogue called Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) has redefined the word "gene" and enabled pinpointing genetic traits and disease hidden in what was considered as "junk DNA." According to Sarah Djebali, the lead researcher of the project, ENCODE will serve as a basis for several biological and medical applications.

ENCODE was started in 2003 involving almost 500 experts and laboratories all over the globe and finally culminated this year. One of the key findings of ENCODE was that up to three-quarters of the human genome are possible to be copied from DNA to RNA, and not just 2 percent, which was previously believed.

Read the original article at http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/5961/decade-long-dna-project-prompts-%E2%80%98gene%E2%80%99-redefinition. For more details about ENCODE, visit http://www.nature.com/encode/#/threads.