What is ENCODE?
Q: What is ENCODE?
A: ENCODE stands for the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements. It was launched in 2003 to identify all the functional elements (working bits) in the human genome.
Q: Who conducted the work for ENCODE?
A: The work was done by over 400 scientists in 32 laboratories in the US, UK, Spain, Singapore and Japan.
Q: What did they find out about the human genome?
A: They found that only 1% of the genome codes for proteins, which is about 21,000 genes. Additionally, they discovered 70,000 sequences code for 'promotor' regions upstream of genes where proteins bind to control gene expression; 400,000 'enhancer' regions which regulate distant genes; and four million gene 'switches', which are DNA sequences that control when genes are switched on or off. Furthermore, it was determined that 80% of the genome has a definite biochemical function.
Q: How did they conduct their research?
A: The methods used included isolating and sequencing RNA transcribed from the genome; identifying binding sites for transcription products; examining patterns of chemical modification made to histones to find regions where gene expression is boosted or suppressed; and conducting 1648 experiments on 147 cell types.
Q: What does this research suggest about evolution?
A: This research suggests that evolution is caused both by changes in genes coding for proteins as well as changes in DNA coding for regulatory control. It also indicates that evolutionary change may occur through sequence changes that alter gene regulation as well as through changes in protein-coding sequences.
Q: Where were their findings published?
A: Their findings were published in 30 open-access papers across three journals - Nature, Genome Biology and Genome Research
