Description
Book SynopsisWhat’s in Your Genome? describes the functional regions of the human genome, the evidence that 90% of it is junk DNA, and the reasons this evidence has not been widely accepted by the popular press and much of the scientific community.
The human genome contains about 25,000 protein-coding and noncoding genes and many other functional elements, such as origins of replication, regulatory elements, and centromeres. Functional elements occupy only about 10 percent of the more than three billion base pairs in the human genome. Much of the rest is composed of ancient fragments of broken genes, transposons, and viruses. Almost all of this is thought to be junk DNA, based on evidence that dates back fifty years.
This conclusion is controversial. What’s in Your Genome? describes the arguments on both sides of the debate and attempts to explain the reasoning behind those different points of view. The book corrects a number of
Table of Contents
Preface Prologue The Junk DNA War 1. Introducing Genomes 2. The Evolution of Sloppy Genomes 3. Repetitive DNA and Mobile Genetic Elements 4. Why Don’t Mutations Kill Us? 5. The Big Picture 6. How Many Genes? How Many Proteins? 7. Gene Families and the Birth and Death of Genes 8. Noncoding Genes and Junk RNA 9. The ENCODE Publicity Campaign 10. Turning Genes On and Off 11. Zen and the Art of Coping with a Poorly Designed Genome Glossary References Index
