As much as 75 percent of our genome consists of junk DNA, according to a study which contradicts that majority of our genes are functional. Researchers from the University of Houston in the US found that the functional portion of the human genome probably falls between 10 percent and 15 percent, with an upper limit of 25 percent. The rest is junk DNA, which is useless but harmless. That is in stark contrast to previous research which states that as much as 80 percent of the genome is functional.
Researchers took a simple approach to determine how much of the genome is functional, using the deleterious mutation rate - that is, the rate at which harmful mutations occur - and the replacement fertility rate. Both genome size and the rate of deleterious mutations in functional parts of the genome have previously been determined, and historical data documents human population levels. With…
