New insight into the structure of the human genome reveals that mRNA controls our genetic processes in more ways than we originally thought. This discovery was unearthed by the ENCODE project, for the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements that is working to compile all of the functions of the human genome. 

Before this discovery, Thomas Gingeras, a geneticist for Encode, and the rest of his team were relatively unsure about the function of most DNA. They uncovered that about one to two percent of our DNA coded for protein sequences and the classically defined “building blocks” of our body. The rest of the DNA was considered “junk DNA”, or DNA without function. 

In 2012, ENCODE found evidence that about 75% of DNA is transcribed into RNA, or ribonucleic acid. The original understanding of RNA’s main function was to convert the “recipes” within DNA into protein form. However, with this recently proven revelation, dozens of other research groups have found that much of our DNA is made up of “noncoding” RNA. 

Noncoding RNA, as the name suggests, does not code other proteins, rather, it works with other molecules to conduct certain tasks, most of which include “fine-tuning” the activity of genes. This “fine-tuning” basically allows for the ncRNA to decide whether the proteins that the DNA codes for are ultimately made. 

With this new research in mind, the original idea of what RNA’s true function is and the overall concept of DNA has been fundamentally altered. Our basic understanding of how our biochemical processes are carried out was long thought to be centered around the protein codes held in DNA, but now, a fresh perspective that gives RNA the credit that it is due is necessary.