junk DNA
4
6.3
- noun
- /dʒʌŋk diːˈɛnˌeɪ/
- Specialized
:
ADN basura
- Despite being called junk DNA, some sequences might have hidden functions that researchers are beginning to uncover.
- called junk DNA
- piece of junk DNA
- junk DNA without any function
And we don't understand DNA and we call it junk DNA.
- And we don't understand DNA and we call it junk DNA.
Examples
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A simple Google search will reveal that the concept of junk DNA is still alive and well.
Blog text (30) -
Researchers call such self-replicating pieces of junk DNA "transposable elements" because of the way they transpose copies of themselves into new places in the genome.
Academic text (2001) -
Well, we do not really know what this junk DNA is for then.
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Researchers have since said that "junk DNA" is functional, even though it does not code.
Blog text (2) -
Many organisms have little or no junk DNA, as a matter of long-agreed fact.
Blog text (32) -
I have consistently maintained that the junk DNA debate is a genuine scientific controversy.
Blog text (32) -
In the 1970s, when geneticists first began to look at it, they dubbed this extra material "junk DNA."
Academic text (2001) -
I have consistently maintained that there's plenty of evidence for junk DNA, and those scientists who dismiss the concept are wrong.
Blog text (32) -
Scientists are still researching the purpose of junk DNA, as it does not seem to code for any proteins.
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Many studies focus on the role of junk DNA in genetics, even though its exact purpose remains largely unclear.
Synonyms
Parts of DNA that do not make proteins and help control when genes work
Surface Forms
Morphology
The modifier 'junk' (worthless) plus 'DNA' (the hereditary molecule) gives a straightforward sense of 'useless or nonfunctional genetic material', so a learner who knows both words can infer the basic meaning. However, the term is technical and frequently extended metaphorically to non-biological systems (e.g., 'junk DNA' in code), and that specialized/figurative usage is not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Junk DNA is a name scientists gave to parts of DNA that looked like useless bits—called junk—because they did not make genes. So the phrase means 'DNA that seems to have no function', even though some pieces may still help in other ways.