Home | Recommend Us | Contact us | Make NK your default homepage
TOP NEWS
BREAKING NEWS
HOME | ASTROLOGY | CHINESE ASTROLOGY | NUMEROLOGY | RECIPES | SELF HELP | PHOTO GALLERY | YOGA | TRAVEL | EDUCATION | PINCODES | BABY NAMES
NEWS CHANNELS
  • Kerala News
  • India News
  • World News
  • Business India
  • Sports News
  • Cricket News
  • Travel News
  • Health News
  • Technology
  • Literature News
  • Education News
  • NRI News
  • Spec. Features
Entertainment News
  • Bollywood News
  • Hollywood News
  • Malayalam Film
  • Tamil Film
  • Kannada Film
  • Telugu Film
Regional News
  • Andhra Pradesh
  • Gujarat News
  • Karnataka News
  • Maharashtra
  • Orissa News
  • Punjab News
  • Rajasthan News
  • Tamil Nadu
  • West Bengal
  • More India News
Best Of NewKerala

  • Festivals of India
  • Self Help
  • India Travel Maps
  • Temples of India
  • Kerala Info
  • Indian Dance Forms
  • Music of India
  • Bollywood Photos
  • Make Up Lessons
  • Weight Loss Tips
  • Top Destinations
  • World Travelogues

Home > News > health-news

Humans owe their identity to 'junk' DNA

Washington, Nov 5 : What had been described by scientists as 'junk' DNA is what gives humans their distinct identity.

More than 50 percent of human DNA are copies of nearly identical sequences and has been referred to as 'junk.' A major source of these repeats is internal viruses that have inserted themselves throughout the genome at various times during evolution.

This research also shows that these repeats are anything but "junk DNA," since they might hold the key to some of the important physical differences that distinguish humans from all other species.

Using the latest sequencing technologies, Genome Institute Singapore (GIS) researchers showed that many transcription factors, master proteins that control the expression of other genes, bind specific repeat elements.

"Our research findings imply that these surveys must also include repeats, as they are likely to be the source of important differences between model organisms and humans," said Guillaume Bourque, GIS senior group leader and co-author of the paper.

"The better our understanding of the particularities of the human genome, the better our understanding will be of diseases and their treatments," he added.

Researchers showed that from 18 to 33 percent of the binding sites of five key transcription factors with important roles in cancer and stem cell biology are embedded in distinctive repeat families, said a GIS release.

Over eons, these repeats were dispersed within different species, creating new regulatory sites throughout these genomes. Thus, the set of genes controlled by these transcription factors is likely to significantly differ from species to species and may be a major driver for evolution.

"The findings by Dr. Bourque and his colleagues at the GIS are very exciting and represent what may be one of the major discoveries in the biology of evolution and gene regulation of the decade," said Raymond White, neurology professor at the University of California, San Francisco and chair of the GIS Scientific Advisory Board.

The paper was published Tuesday in Genome Research.

--IANS

Post your comment

Read other health-news stories

Visit Home Page for fresh content


Rating: This article has not been rated yet.

Rate:
 


 

Latest News Headlines:

Jackson's Moonwalk Glove Sells For USD 350,000
Miley Cyrus' Driver Had Cardiac Arrest - Report
Bon Jovi And Sgwen Tefani Suing Bars
Noel Gallagher Attacker Pleads Guilty
Berry Gordy Honoured At Motown 50th Anniversary
Kelly Carlson's Fat Trauma
Joe Francis Too Sick For Court Appearance
John Travolta Thrilled With Street Honour
Courteney Cox Puts Cougar Town On Hold
Nicole Kidman And Kate Hudson Honour Everyday Heroes
Jackson's Moonwalk Glove For Sale
Sore Jordin Sparks Struggling To Enjoy New Number One
Stars Come Out For The Deftones
Family Issue Prompts The Cranberries To Cancel Concert
Fight Promoters Sue DMX
Judge Dismisses Assault Charges Against John Rich
John Travolta'S Family Day Out To Raise Charity Cash
Cole Slams Marriage Split Rumours
West Wing Star To Support Lopez In Dog Lawsuit
Second Autopsy Requested In Jewell Death
Lindsay Lohan Slammed By Store Over Freebie Demands
Shilpa Shetty ties the knot with Raj Kundra
7 killed, 60 injured in Assam twin blast
2 CRPF killed in Jharkhand mine blast
Gavaskar, not Sachin Tendulkar, a true Maharashtrian: Sena
Jayawardena replaces Sangakkara as No. 1 Test batsman
Sachin Tendulkar plays for BCCI, not India: Sena
Manmohan Singh arrives in Washington
'Playing Paa to Big B is difficult' : Abhishek Bachchan
'Man-woman relationship is too complicated' : Mahesh Bhatt
'70pc of my films is reality' : Madhur Bhandarkar
Jail came at the right time: Arya Babbar
'I' m only concentrating on films' : Mukesh Tyagi
'I am working on my Hindi' : Jacqueline Fernandez
'I share same energy with Ranbir': Katrina Kaif
'Don't call me 90-yr-old' : Manna Dey
'Kiss is lucky for my films': Emraan Hashmi
Manufacturing sector showing stronger signs of recovery due to stimulus: CII
Iran's Revolutionary Guards start military manoeuvres
New York man kills fellow commuter over train seat

  Home | Recommend Us | Contact us | Make NK your default homepage
  © 2001-2008 NEWKERALA.COM. All Rights Reserved.