A young snowboarder turned to science and challenged the broadly accepted view of junk-DNA. John Rinn, an assistant professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School, pursued science after a snowboard accident 13 years ago in which he tore his knee. After he reflected on his lost opportunities as a snowboarder, he chose to do science in which he excelled quickly and is now one of the brightest young biochemists.
PhysOrg told the story of John Rinn in Turning genetic trash to treasure. His research led him to the discovery of a whole new class of functional molecules: lincRNA (large intervening non-coding RNA. He found these functional molecules in a part of the genome where it was largely believed to be filled with non-functional genetic junk.
At first his research were met with criticism. At the end of the article they say this:
Perhaps it was his anti-establishment youth that led Rinn to push on when some critics told him that his early lab results recorded just noise in the genome. Rinn admits to having something of a chip on his shoulder, to always feeling like he has to prove himself.
Scientists are constantly finding new functions for what they believe as junk-DNA. The Taft and Mattick study(2003) revealed that possibly an organism is more advanced when it has more junk-DNA. Pseudogenes, which were believed to be junk, is now considered to be functional in making regulatory RNA molecules, rather than proteins. Repetitive DNA, including satellite DNA, long considered junk, are now believed to comprise telomeres and centromeres, which are essential structures in the genome. (Genetic Entropy & The Mystery of the Genome, John C. Sanford)
An article from ScienceDaily Junk DNA Has Important Role, Researchers Find, says this:
Scientists are beginning to find, however, that much of this so-called junk plays important roles in the regulation of gene activity.
I conclude that functionality is characteristic to all or most of the genome.
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