Genetics: the exciting ENCODE project and how lifestyle choices can manipulate your genes

Genetics and you: Not long ago genes were thought to be'written in stone'. In 2001 the human genome was sequenced and 97% was considered "junk" because it does not encode for proteins. The science of genetics is in the midst of a profound revolution heralded by the ENCODE project.

"ENCODE, the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements, is a project funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute to identify all regions of transcription, transcription factor association, chromatin structure and histone modification in the human genome sequence. Thanks to the identification of these functional elements, 80% of the components of the human genome now have at least one biochemical function associated with them. This expansive resource of functional annotations is already providing new insights into the organization and regulation of our genes and genome."

The brilliant work done by the consortium of hundreds of scientists collaborating on ENCODE is beginning to show that the expanse of the other 97% of human genetics is actively involved in determining how our genes actually work in a lively, vastly complex interactive fashion subjected influences from our environment. Practical message: we modify our genetics by what we do, eat and think. Here's the description of a video introducing the ENCODE project followed by the video itself:

"ENCODE, the Encyclopaedia of DNA Elements, is the most ambitious human genetics project to date. It takes the 3 billion letters described by the Human Genome Project in 2000, and tries to explain them. Remarkably, ENCODE scientists have managed to assign a biochemical function to 80% of the genome, including the genes and the parts of the genome that tell those genes what to do. This information is helping us understand how genomes are interpreted to make different types of cells and different people -- and crucially, how mistakes can lead to disease. In this video, ENCODE's lead coordinator, Ewan Birney, and Nature editor Magdalena Skipper talk about the challenges of managing this colossal project and what we've learnt about our genomes."

For a more basic introduction to genetics, our genomes and ENCODE, see also this video:

"Ever since a monk called Mendel started breeding pea plants we've been learning about our genomes. In 1953, Watson, Crick and Franklin described the structure of the molecule that makes up our genomes: the DNA double helix. Then, in 2001, scientists wrote down the entire 3-billion letter code contained in the average human genome. Now they're trying to interpret that code; to work out how it's used to make different types of cells and different people. The ENCODE project, as it's called, is the latest chapter in the story of you."