Monthly Archives: May 2017
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- 可能 04, 2017
3 Reasons Why You Should Take "Pseudogenes" Seriously in Your Research
Protein-coding DNA, or “functional” genes, only accounts for up to 2% in the human genome. Until recently, the remaining 98% have been referred to as “junk DNA” for their putative noncoding feature. The name itself implies that junk DNA is useless and can be ignored. Further research, however, has shown that junk DNA may actually be crucial in the functionality of our genome. For instance, have you ever wondered why human astrocytes and hepatocytes originated from the same fertilized egg, and carry exactly the same genetic information, yet they differ greatly in their development, morphology and functions? While part of the reason lies in epigenetics, where gene expression is regulated by epigenetic modification such as DNA methylation, some researchers have also been searching for clues in the so-called junk DNA. As a result, "pseudogenes" were identified, and their diverse roles in maintaining normal cell biology
