The ENCODE Project Decoded

Abstract

The ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) project, started in 2003, is a consortium of 442 scientists from around the world working together to assign a function to the DNA that does not encode genes. ENCODE used 147 different cell types and many different research techniques to achieve their goal. On September 5, 2012, ENCODE released the initial results of their study. The purpose of this review is to summarize a fraction of ENCODE’s results.