Genetics: Junking the idea of junk

GENETICS often progresses by breaking things. Early experiments used naturally broken genes--mutations--to work out the basic rules. Then geneticists found out how to induce mutations with radiation and chemicals. That gave them more material to work with, but the mutations still appeared at random. Then the "knockout mouse" was invented, in which mice have specified genes rendered inoperable, thus revealing their functions. Now, as they write in e-life, John Rinn of Harvard University and his c...