The concept of junk DNA the notion that some portion of the genomes of every organism is nonfunctional 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 evolutionfree gospel of ENCODE. Genome biology and evolution, 5(3), 578590. (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), 52945300. (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), 61316138. (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), 1569015695. (https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/...)

Lynch, M., & Conery, J. S. (2003). The origins of genome complexity. science, 302(5649), 14011404. (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.