Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introducing Genomes -- The Evolution of Sloppy Genomes -- Repetitive DNA and Mobile Genetic Elements -- Why Don't Mutations Kill Us? -- The Big Picture -- How Many Genes? How Many Proteins? -- Gene Families and the Birth & Death of Genes -- Noncoding Genes and Junk RNA -- The ENCODE Publicity Campaign -- Turning Genes On and Off -- Zen and the Art of Coping with a Sloppy Genome.

"The human genome contains about 25,000 protein-coding and noncoding genes and many other functional elements, such as origins of replication, regulatory elements, and centromeres. Functional elements occupy only about 10% of the more than three billion base pairs in the human genome. Much of the rest is composed of ancient fragments of broken genes, transposons, and viruses. Almost all of this is thought to be junk DNA, based on evidence that dates back fifty years. This conclusion is controversial. What's in Your Genome? describes the arguments on both sides of the debate and attempts to explain the reasoning behind those different points of view. The book aims to correct a number of false narratives that have arisen in recent years and examine how they have affected the debate over junk DNA. In addition, Laurence A. Moran focuses on scientific misconceptions and misinformation and on how the junk DNA controversy has been incorrectly portrayed in both the scientific literature and the popular press."--

Issued also in electronic format.