This month, researchers published 30 papers detailing results of the nine-year Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project. Designed to study the 99% of the human genome that does not code for proteins, the project has so far assigned functions to around 80% of the genome. This part of the genome consists of over 70,000 promoter region, where protein binding regulates gene expression of nearby genes, and just under 400,000 enhancer regions, which controls gene expression of genes farther away. Initial results were published in 2007 and showed the importance of non-coding regions in gene expression. The second phase, which scaled up the project to the whole genome, was carried out by 32 research groups, consisting of 440 scientists, who conducted 24 standard experiments on at least 147 cell types. RNA sequencing was used to identify binding sites for 120 of 1,800 known transcription factors and create a map of functional regions. Thirteen of the 60 known histone modifications were studied. A third phase intends to fill in missing information, use new cell types and add experiments. Funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, ENCODE is estimated to have cost more than $185 million. Funding for the third phase is expected to be $123 million.

Source: Nature