Junk DNA may not be so useless after all. Scientists coined the term to describe the genetic wasteland within the human genome that consists of long stretches of DNA for which there was no known ...

It has been claimed that because most of our DNA is active, it must be important, but now human-plant hybrid cells have been ...

Researchers have revealed that so-called “junk DNA” contains powerful switches that help control brain cells linked to ...

So-called junk DNA was given that unfortunate nickname because its function was so mysterious. These vast regions of the genome do not code for protein and are made up of highly repetitive sequences.

Scientists have long sought to understand what makes us human. From the standpoint of DNA sequences, we have a lot in common with our closest evolutionary relative, the chimpanzee. The regulation of ...

When most of us think of DNA, we have a vague idea it's made up of genes that give us our physical features, our behavioral ...

A new international study suggests that ancient viral DNA embedded in our genome, which were long dismissed as genetic “junk”, may actually play powerful roles in regulating gene expression. A new ...

Some 8 to 10 percent of our DNA is actually leftover from ancient viruses that co-evolved with animal DNA for hundreds of a millions of years. While scientists have long thought this DNA was “junk,” ...

In a paper published in Genome Research on Nov. 4, scientists at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) report that what was previously believed to be "junk" DNA is one of the important ingredients ...

Researchers have identified elusive DNA switches in brain support cells that influence genes tied to Alzheimer’s disease. When people think about DNA, they often picture genes that determine our ...

UC Davis Prof. Thomas Cahill describes his air-quality findings to an ABC News film crew at the World Trade Center site on Feb. 23.<br> <i>(Photo courtesy of UC Davis)</i> The first maps of the human ...

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we cover exciting new 'living robots' called xenobots — made from frog cells with the help of a supercomputer — and what they might be used for down the road.