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An Intergenic region (IGR) is a stretch of DNA sequences located between clusters of genes that contain few or no genes. Occasionally some intergenic DNA acts to control genes close by, but most of it has no currently known function. It is one of the DNA sequences collectively referred to as junk DNA, though it is only one phenomenon labeled such and in scientific studies today, the term is less used. In humans, intergenic regions comprise a large percentage of the genome.
This could also be where noncoding RNAs are located. Though little is known about them, they are thought to have regulatory functions.
Intergenic regions are different from intragenic regions (or introns), which are short, non-coding regions that are found within genes, especially within the genes of eukaryotic organisms.
Scientists have now artificially made proteins from intergenic regions too [1]
See also
References
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