junk DNA
noun
: a region of DNA that usually consists of a repeating DNA sequence, does not code for protein, and has no known function
Examples of junk DNA in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Now, scientists have traced our tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code that is abundant in our genome but had been dismissed for decades as junk DNA, a sequence that seemingly serves no biological purpose.
—
Mindy Weisberger, CNN, 23 Mar. 2024
He was taught to call it junk DNA.
—Quanta Magazine, 2 Nov. 2020
Questions and much debate remain around junk DNA.
—Daniel Bastardo Blanco, Discover Magazine, 13 Aug. 2019
Transposons are indeed junk DNA, says Ting Wang, a genomic scientist who studies transposons at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
—Douglas Fox, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2022
At the time, glial cells were considered the brain’s equivalent of junk DNA, and most neuroanatomists were not interested in them.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2021
Mindy Weisberger, CNN, 23 Mar. 2024
He was taught to call it junk DNA.
—Quanta Magazine, 2 Nov. 2020
Questions and much debate remain around junk DNA.
—Daniel Bastardo Blanco, Discover Magazine, 13 Aug. 2019
Transposons are indeed junk DNA, says Ting Wang, a genomic scientist who studies transposons at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
—Douglas Fox, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2022
At the time, glial cells were considered the brain’s equivalent of junk DNA, and most neuroanatomists were not interested in them.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2021
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“Junk DNA.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/junk%20DNA. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
junk DNA
noun
: a region of DNA (as spacer DNA) that usually consists of a repeating DNA sequence, does not code for protein, and has no known function
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