For decades, researchers have focused most of their attention on protein-coding genes and proteins. With the completion of the human and mouse genomes and the accumulation of data on the mammalian transcriptome, the focus now shifts to non-coding DNA sequences, RNA-coding genes and their transcripts. Many non-coding transcribed sequences are proving to have important regulatory roles, but the functions of the majority remain mysterious.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Shabalina et al. (2004) studied this question.