The Hindu Business Line : `Junk' DNA is not junk

Breakthru
It is now suggested that protein-coding genes (which constitute just 1.2 per cent of the total DNA) might not be the movers and shakers of human evolution as science once thought.

Hyderabad , Nov. 24

Scientists at the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have cracked the mystery of junk DNA. They have announced that the prefix of `junk' before the non-coding DNA of Y chromosome is just a misnomer. It does have some functions, indicating their role in genome expression, hitherto unknown.

It is now suggested that protein-coding genes (which constitute just 1.2 per cent of the total DNA) might not be the movers and shakers of human evolution as science once thought.

Though there have been assumptions and suppositions among the scientific community all over the world that the junk DNA (deoxy-ribonucleic acid) might have some function, it has not yet been proved till now.

Dr Rachel A. Jesudasan, who carried out the study, said for the first time it was found that the junk DNA present in the Y chromosome (this chromosome contains DNA that is specific to males) interacted and controlled the function of a gene located in another chromosome, which was not limited to a sex.

Interestingly, the study would also have far reaching implications in cancer research. It found that the Y-chromosomes got lost in male cancer tissues.

"The new finding at CCMB will open up a fresh and exciting chapter in the world of genomics," Dr Lalji Sing, Director, told reporters here on Friday.

More than 98.8 per cent of human genome is made up of non-coding DNA generally referred to as junk or garbage whose function has not yet been established. Only the fraction of DNA was thought to have played a major role in genomics. One of the biggest challenges the scientific community faces is to crack this mystery of the junk DNA.