ENCODE, an Encyclopedia Of DNA Elements, is a massive international project aimed "to catalogue every letter (nucleotide) within the genome that does something." Ed Yong marvels:
Think of the human genome as a city. The basic layout, tallest buildings and most famous sights are visible from a distance. That’s where we got to in 2001. Now, we’ve zoomed in. We can see the players that make the city tick: the cleaners and security guards who maintain the buildings, the sewers and power lines connecting distant parts, the police and politicians who oversee the rest. That’s where we are now: a comprehensive 3-D portrait of a dynamic, changing entity, rather than a static, 2-D map.
Brendan Maher has more.
The Dish 