Mysteries of human DNA unlocked

A team of hundreds of scientists has made a discovery about human DNA that has completely changed the way we think about genes.

The established understanding regarding human genes was that most of them contain remnants of previous developmental processes and were no longer active.

The ENCODA project, however, has discovered that by far the majority of genes are active. It is being called the biggest breakthrough since the human genome was mapped in the 1990s.

Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston explains.