Junk DNA... It's a Thing

The concept of junk DNA - the notion that some portion of the genomes of every organism is non-functional - has been around for over 60 years. And yet, many people, including some biologists, don't seem to understand it. In this video, I review the history of the concept, including framing junk DNA in an ecological and population genetic lens, demonstrating that it's virtually guaranteed to exist. We also take a deep dive into the infamous ENCODE controversy, discussing notions of biological function, and the many methodological, statistical, and conceptual errors of the consortium.

   • The Onion Test & Genome Functionality  

#junkdna #evolution #education

Links to ‪@CreationMyths‬ ongoing feud with the Discovery Institute over junk DNA:

   • DEBATE: Is the Human Genome Largely J...  
   • The Discovery Institute Junk DNA Saga  
https://evolutionnews.org/2024/05/ref...
https://evolutionnews.org/2024/05/did...
https://evolutionnews.org/2024/06/dr-...
https://evolutionnews.org/2024/06/doc...

References and further reading:

Graur, D., Zheng, Y., Price, N., Azevedo, R. B., Zufall, R. A., & Elhaik, E. (2013). On the immortality of television sets: “function” in the human genome according to the evolution-free gospel of ENCODE. Genome biology and evolution, 5(3), 578-590. (https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...)

Palazzo, A. F., & Gregory, T. R. (2014). The case for junk DNA. PLoS genetics, 10(5), e1004351. (https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetic...)

Doolittle, W. F. (2013). Is junk DNA bunk? A critique of ENCODE. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(14), 5294-5300. (https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/...)

Kellis, M., Wold, B., Snyder, M. P., Bernstein, B. E., Kundaje, A., Marinov, G. K., ... & Hardison, R. C. (2014). Defining functional DNA elements in the human genome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(17), 6131-6138. (https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/...)

Lynch, M., & Marinov, G. K. (2015). The bioenergetic costs of a gene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(51), 15690-15695. (https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/...)

Lynch, M., & Conery, J. S. (2003). The origins of genome complexity. science, 302(5649), 1401-1404. (https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1089370)

Ohno, S (1972). So much "junk" DNA in our genome. Brookhaven Symposia in Biology. 23: 366–70.

Moran, L. A. (2023). What's in Your Genome?: 90% of Your Genome Is Junk. University of Toronto Press.