Who am I?

Is your genome mostly made out of ‘junk’?

Genes are scattered in clusters throughout our chromosomes, separated by long stretches of DNA that doesn’t provide the code for any proteins. About half of your genome is made of this non-coding DNA which seemed useless and so was called ‘junk’ DNA at the time the Human Genome Project was completed. However, scientists have now discovered that much of this non-coding DNA plays an important role in controlling the activity of our genes. It codes for genetic switches that regulate when and where genes are switched on and off in your body.