Genes don't act alone to cause disease and there may be no 'junk' DNA, landmark study finds

By E.J. Mundell
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- In what's being hailed as a milestone in human genetics research, an international consortium of scientists announced Wednesday new data that could revolutionize how scientists study health and disease.

An exhaustive look at only 1 percent of the human genome produced two major findings: a vast amount of seemingly useless genes formerly called "junk DNA" may, in fact, be crucial to regulatory processes governing cells; and "epigenetic" factors outside of genes are probably big players behind many diseases.

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