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OXFORD DEFINITION. "The Oxford researchers want to count as “functional” only DNA involved in shaping a person’s body and behavior–the phenotype, DNA that is acted upon by natural selection." https://lnkd.in/eExYi3R View in LinkedIn

PHAGES. "Like all viruses, phages are metabolically inert in their extracellular form (the “virion”), and they reproduce by insinuating themselves into the metabolism of the host. The mechanisms by which phage virions infect their host cells...vary among the different types of phages, but they all result in delivery of the phage genome into the cytoplasm of the bacterial host, where it interacts with the cellular machinery to carry the phage life cycle forward." https://lnkd.in/eBxpUF7 View in LinkedIn

ONLY 8.2% FUNCTIONAL? " From extrapolations we estimate that 8.2% (7.1–9.2%) of the human genome is presently subject to negative selection and thus is likely to be functional. Nearly 99% of the human genome does not encode proteins, and while there recently has been extensive biochemical annotation of the remaining noncoding fraction, it remains unclear whether or not the bulk of these DNA sequences have important functional roles." (Oxford study). https://lnkd.in/eMD6XXb View in LinkedIn

"BACTERIOPHAGES – or phages for short – are viruses that attack bacteria but not humans. They have only one objective: their reproduction. Phages are so poorly equipped, however, that they can’t do this on their own. Without the help of their victims, they aren’t much more than a dead piece of protein with a touch of genetic material. But if the phages do hit a suitable bacterium, they multiply in a chillingly efficient cycle." https://lnkd.in/eZQvpdQ View in LinkedIn

ENCODE definition of functional proteins includes those that are "biochemically functional" even if it had no impact on phenotype. This definition has been challenged by others. https://lnkd.in/eJne7Xw View in LinkedIn

STORM IN A TEACUP. The apparent flip-flop over functional DNA appears lodged in definitional disagreements. "How could the meaning of one word—function—be so divisive?" https://lnkd.in/eqwEMmU View in LinkedIn

80% FUNCTIONAL? "These data enabled us to assign biochemical functions for 80% of the genome, in particular outside of the well-studied protein-coding regions.” As a very small fraction of the genome (~1%) encodes for protein sequences, a question in science has been, what does the other 99% do? ENCODE data demonstrated that much of this DNA participates in biochemistry in some way." https://lnkd.in/e-NRQHx View in LinkedIn

DRIVING EVOLUTION. "Transposons are also the raw material of evolution. When these mobile elements move around in eggs and sperm, they can increase genetic diversity....transposons have contributed to human success by speeding our unusually rapid evolution, especially evolution of our big brains." https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/08/05/how-much-of-human-dna-is-doing-something/ View in LinkedIn

DECODING JUNK DNA. "In a paper published in Nature in 2012, ENCODE researchers concluded that 80% of the human genome is functional. Ever since, commentators have argued over what large swaths of non-coding DNA might be doing. Super-enhancers, which can occupy tens of kilobases, suggest a use for at least some of this DNA. In fact, published ENCODE work foreshadowed the super-enhancer discovery." https://lnkd.in/ezRUFD5 View in LinkedIn

FAST BREEDING. "We do delete them, but they replicate so fast that we can’t keep up. Transposons, however, are not essential for a successful life. A little weed called the humped bladderwort. Only 2.5 percent of its genome is transposons, compared to 50 percent transposons in Homo sap." https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/08/05/how-much-of-human-dna-is-doing-something/ View in LinkedIn