Researchers have mapped the spatial distribution of around 700 long non-coding RNAs, otherwise known as lncRNAs, in the testes. The team discovered much higher levels of lncRNAs in the testes than had ...

De novo gene evolution describes the process by which entirely new genes originate from previously non-coding DNA rather than from the duplication and divergence of existing genetic material. This ...

Professor Indraneel Mittra and his team show that DNA fragments from dying cells function as agents of horizontal gene transfer in mammalian cells. For decades, scientists have known that bacteria can ...

The human genome contains about 20,000 protein-coding genes, but that only accounts for roughly two percent of the genome. For many years, it was easier for scientists to simply ignore all of that ...

The non-coding genome, once referred to as "junk DNA," is now understood to be a fundamental regulator of gene expression and a key factor in understanding complex diseases. Image credit: ...

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, used to rapidly read genetic information, have consistently opened new frontiers in biology. The first NGS device – 454 Life Sciences’ Genomic Sequencer ...

A new review by Erich Bornberg-Bauer and Lars A. Eicholt summarizes current understanding of protein-coding de novo genes—genes that originate from previously non-coding DNA. Once considered rare or ...