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junk DNA

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
junk DNA (jngk)
n.
DNA that does not code for proteins or their regulation but is thought to be involved in the evolution of new genes and in gene repair, and constitutes approximately 95 percent of the human genome.

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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.
Most SNPs occur in places in the genome that aren't used for making proteins--the so-called junk DNA.
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.
 
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