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junk DNA

   Also found in: Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.07 sec.
junk DNA
n.
DNA that does not code for proteins or their regulation but constitutes approximately 95 percent of the human genome. It is postulated to be involved in the evolution of new genes and possibly in gene repair.
junk DNA  (jngk)
DNA that serves no known biological purpose, such as coding for proteins or their regulation. Junk DNA makes up the vast majority of the DNA in the cells of most plants and animals, composing, for example, about 95 percent of the human genome.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.junk DNA - stretches of DNA that do not code for genes; "most of the genome consists of junk DNA"
deoxyribonucleic acid, desoxyribonucleic acid, DNA - (biochemistry) a long linear polymer found in the nucleus of a cell and formed from nucleotides and shaped like a double helix; associated with the transmission of genetic information; "DNA is the king of molecules"


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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
To his geneticist detractors who remind us that the human genome probably contains as few as 25,000 genes, Pinker identifies a wealth of information contained in so-called junk DNA, the non-coding portions of the genome, "whose size, spacing, and composition could have large effects on how genes are expressed.
What We Believe But Cannot Prove: Today's Leading Thinkers on Science ... by Krause, Kenneth W. / The Humanist
Most SNPs occur in places in the genome that aren't used for making proteins--the so-called junk DNA.
Code of many colors: can researchers see race in the genome? by Brownlee, Christen / Science News
The remainder is so-called junk DNA that may someday be shown to have biologic merit, but that for now is largely seen as filler that remains in the genome for unknown reasons.
Charting the Map of Life by Schmidt, Charles W. / Environmental Health Perspectives
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