Researchers analyzing human, fly, and worm genomes have found that these species have a number of key genomic processes in common, reflecting a shared ancestry. Three papers were published in the Aug. 28, 2014 issue of Nature offering insights into embryonic development, gene regulation, and other biological processes vital to understanding human biology and disease.
These studies utilized data generated by the model organism ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements (modENCODE) and the ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project, both supported by NHGRI. Launched in 2007, the goal of modENCODE is to create a comprehensive catalog of functional elements in the fruit fly and roundworm genomes for use by the research community. Initial catalogs were published in 2010. The ENCODE Project is building a comprehensive catalog of functional elements in the human and mouse genome.
More than a dozen modENCODE Consortium papers have been or will be published in the journals Nature, Genome Research, Genome Biology, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this year. This collection of papers is the culmination of the modENCODE program, for which funding ended in 2012. More than 100 papers using modENCODE data by groups outside of the program have already been published. It is anticipated that the data and resources produced by modENCODE will continue to be used by the broader research community for years to come.
