Human Genome Is Much More Than Just Genes

The genetics chapter of 9th Grade Biology is about to get a whole lot more complicated! tongue:

Human Genome Is Much More Than Just Genes
by Elizabeth Pennisi on 5 September 2012

The human genome—the sum total of hereditary information in a person—contains a lot more than the protein-coding genes teenagers learn about in school, a massive international project has found. When researchers decided to sequence the human genome in the late 1990s, they were focused on finding those traditional genes so as to identify all the proteins necessary for life. Each gene was thought to be a discrete piece of DNA; the order of its DNA bases—the well-known "letter" molecules that are the building blocks of DNA—were thought to code for a particular protein. But scientists deciphering the human genome found, to their surprise, that these protein-coding genes took up less than 3% of the genome. In between were billions of other bases that seemed to have no purpose.

ENCODE's results are changing how scientists think about genes. That DNA includes slightly less than 21,000 protein-coding genes (some researchers once estimated we had more than 100,000 such genes); <snip> and 11,224 stretches of DNA that are classified as pseudogenes, "dead" genes now known to really be active in some cell types or individuals. In addition, efforts to define the beginning end, and coding regions of these genes revealed that genes can overlap and have multiple beginnings and ends.

These and other findings appear today in six papers in Nature, and 24 in Genome Research and Genome Biology. Two additional papers are published today on Science online.

An integrated encyclopedia of DNA elements in the human genome
The ENCODE Project Consortium
Nature #489, pg 57–74
(06 September 2012)
doi:10.1038/nature11247

Received 24 November 2011
Accepted 29 May 2012
Published online 05 September 2012

The human genome encodes the blueprint of life, but the function of the vast majority of its nearly three billion bases is unknown. The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project has systematically mapped regions of transcription, transcription factor association, chromatin structure and histone modification. These data enabled us to assign biochemical functions for 80% of the genome, in particular outside of the well-studied protein-coding regions. Many discovered candidate regulatory elements are physically associated with one another and with expressed genes, providing new insights into the mechanisms of gene regulation.

ENCODE's Map

Good - the brain needs just as much exercise as the muscles! :thumbsup:

It's never my intent to make anyone feel dumb, I post the science stuff that I find interesting (or near and dear to my heart - I used to do work in genetics, molecular biology, and neuroscience) and hope that people will find it interesting as well and maybe even explore a little more on their own. I firmly believe that learning is a life-long activity, and since science is a subject that many are intimidated by, and are exposed to even less during their normal day-to-day activities, my goal was to share what I knew in an easy-to-understand way and encourage curiosity and passion for that which I love! Feel free to ask any questions, if I can't answer them, I'll try to find answers or point you to sites that can help.

Here's a genetics basics tutorial from the National Institutes of Health that might help with this topic.
http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/thene ... pter1.html
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/basics/gene

The history of genetics is a fascinating one. It started with a rudimentary idea that sperm contained essentially a miniature person that merely required fusion with a female egg for nutrients in order to grow into a person, to the discovery that specific characteristics were heritable (Mendel's experiments with peas), the startling revelation that DNA, not protein as widely believed but unproven, was the substance in our cells that dictated creation and control of growth of a new organism (Avery, McLeod, and McCarty), to the race to discover the basic structure of DNA (Watson and Crick), to the finding that DNA is made into RNA and that is made into proteins that make up our cells and tissues with other types of RNA that act as on/off switches to the complicated picture we have today that we have very few protein-coding genes (less than some other plants and animals even, so it's not the number of proteins that make us smarter, self-aware, capable of speech, etc), and that much of our unique development and traits are due to complex fine-tuning done by RNA molecules, even at the tissue-specific level, some of which we didn't even know existed 15 years ago (microRNAs for example).

It makes for excitement of new discoveries yet to be made, and the disheartening realization that cures for many genetic diseases is still further off than we'd like.
Genetics Time line: http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/kaha ... eline.html

If you are wanting even more, I highly recommend starting with these books:
The Transforming Principle: Discovering that Genes Are Made of DNA by Maclyn McCarty - the story from one of the principle investigators who confirmed that DNA, not protein, is the hereditary factor

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James Watson about the race to discover the actual physical structure of DNA. Brilliant man, who was in the right place at the right time, and whose arrogance knows no bounds; yet rightfully deserves much credit. It's neat to get the first-hand perspective.

A History of Genetics by A. H. Sturtevant - the man who discovered chromosomes in Fruit flies and laid the foundation for a century of genetics experiments in fruit flies

And if you want to get really crazy, read this classic proposing that our bodies are but vehicles for genes to propagate themselves, presenting natural selection from a molecular point of view.
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
(Dawkins has a few others that are really good too - The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, and The Greatest Show on Earth: Evidence for Evolution - you read his books and I promise you that the way you think will forever be changed!)

Read as much or as little as you like, I tend to go a little overboard when I'm excited about a subject! lol

Thanks! Yeah, mine too - cancer, heart disease, glaucoma, diabetes, cataracts. I was pretty lucky in that we grew up on a farm so I was raised on fresh fruits and vegetables right out of the garden and they are my comfort food; eating healthy has never been an issue for me (I detest fast food now, but did eat it in college quite a bit). My motto to lessen health problems I'll eventually develop is to generally eat well, but not feel guilty at the bad things I do have as long as I do it in moderation, exercise cuz it's fun and keeps me in shape, and keep stress to a minimum. I know someday I'll get to the point where something will always hurt or not feel right as my body wears out so I'm grateful for how well I am now.

I am guilty of not eating enough (although calorie restricted diets are proven to extend life span!) and definitely not sleeping enough. There's just too much to do that I love doing! I think a great attitude makes up for a lot of what we may be predestined for, delaying (or staving it off completely, who knows?). Worrying about what "may be" takes too much time and energy, solving problems now and preparing for the future is a lot more enjoyable.

So what prompted you to move from Alaska to here, if you don't mind me asking?

Swinging genomics
Sep 5th 2012, 21:19 by O.M.

A HUGE scientific collaboration producing 30 papers simultaneously, as the ENCODE consortium just has (see story in the coming print edition), is entitled to a little razzamatazz. But how exactly to celebrate in a way that cements the idea in the cultural zeitgeist?

Thus London’s Science Museum, which has added a display about ENCODE to the exploration of genetics and identity in its “Who am I” gallery , is about to host a rather beautiful interpretation of the project to go alongside it. Three athletic performers pull themselves lithely up strips of silk in which they then wrap and unwrap themselves, moving from stance to graceful stance and entanglement to entanglement with fluid poise. It sounds an unlikely illustration of the charms of industrial-strength computationally heavy genomics, but in fact it is rather successful.

That "Who Am I" Gallery is pretty cool! http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/whoami

[youtube:cecgswzh][/youtube:cecgswzh]

I hear ya about the winters. Cincinnati gets more sun that Alaska, but cold, cloudy, and dreary for 6 months is a killer - I'll never move back. Kodiak sounds great for the people though!

So I have to ask: Deadliest Catch - did it affect where you lived and worked, did you notice any change in people's lives with all the attention? How many more commercial boats are up there than the few they follow? I always wondered about how they picked the ones they do follow and how everyone else feels about that. (And was the Kodiak your favorite, if you watched it?)

I was just really curious about your potentially first-hand viewpoint. I watched it until Captain Phil died, then I just couldn't stay interested anymore - he had so much heart and was so full of character that the rest just seem to pale in comparison (except the Time Bandit Crew, but they can't be on-screen all the time, and didn't seem to get much air-time so I drifted off, so to speak).