Why the "Onion Test" Fails as an Argument for "Junk DNA"

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Briefly stated, the often cited "onion test" observes that onion cells have many times more DNA than human cells do. And since the onion is considered to be relatively simple as compared to us, this discrepancy -- it is argued -- can only be accounted for if the preponderance of its DNA is, in fact, junk or non-functional. Let's see whether the concept really holds any water.

The term "onion test" was first coined in April 2007 by the Canadian evolutionary biologist and genome...