Media Clips - EMBL

tweaking of the expression of that particular gene, and therefore that particular protein in a person at high risk --
they are making a little too much or not quite enough," Collins added.
Drugs might easily be designed to compensate, he said.
The researchers did find some DNA that appears to do nothing, and it can mutate without causing any damage.
Collins likened these stretches of DNA to boxes in the attic.
"It is not the sort of clutter that you get rid of without consequences because you might need it. Evolution may
need it," he said.
That little extra padding might be just what an animal needs to adapt to some unforeseen circumstance, the
researchers said. "They may become useful in the future," Birney said.
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