Protracted Unrest Between ENCODE Researchers and Junk-DNA Advocates Goes On

It's not exactly Fergusson, Mo., but the battle between ENCODE researchers and junk-DNA holdouts goes on. Our ongoing coverage of the hostilities left off with the latter sending over their latest salvo. Now, ENCODE is back. Confident that genomes are not mostly junk, they have set their latest contender in the ring: a mouse.

The mouse genome was sequenced in 2002 as a primary model in which to study gene function and human diseases and to develop drugs. This was followed by maps of transcrib...