Table of Contents

• • Preface 9
  • 1 The Controversy Over Darwinian Evolution 11
  • 2 Junk DNA: the Last Icon of Evolution? 17
  • 3 Most DNA Is Transcribed into RNA 29
  • 4 Introns and the Splicing Code 39
  • 5 Pseudogenes-Not So Pseudo After All 47
  • 6 Jumping Genes and Repetitive DNA 57
  • 7 Functions Independent of Exact Sequence 71
  • 8 Some Recent Defenders of Junk DNA 81
  • 9 Summary of the Case for Functionality in Junk DNA 89
  • 10 From Junk DNA to a New Understanding of the Genome 97
  • Appendix: The Vitamin C Pseudogene 109
  • Notes 115
  • Glossary 161
  • Index 171