Title |
The case for not masking away repetitive DNA
|
---|---|
Published in |
Mobile DNA, May 2018
|
DOI | 10.1186/s13100-018-0120-9 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
R. Keith Slotkin |
Abstract |
In the course of analyzing whole-genome data, it is common practice to mask or filter out repetitive regions of a genome, such as transposable elements and endogenous retroviruses, in order to focus only on genes and thus simplify the results. This Commentary is a plea from one member of the Mobile DNA community to all gene-centric researchers: please do not ignore the repetitive fraction of the genome. Please stop narrowing your findings by only analyzing a minority of the genome, and instead broaden your analyses to include the rich biology of repetitive and mobile DNA. In this article, I present four arguments supporting a case for retaining repetitive DNA in your genome-wide analysis. |
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United Kingdom | 5 | 6% |
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Canada | 4 | 5% |
New Zealand | 3 | 3% |
Australia | 3 | 3% |
Norway | 3 | 3% |
China | 2 | 2% |
Germany | 2 | 2% |
Other | 10 | 11% |
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Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Scientists | 48 | 55% |
Members of the public | 36 | 41% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 3 | 3% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 145 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 42 | 29% |
Researcher | 21 | 14% |
Student > Bachelor | 10 | 7% |
Student > Master | 9 | 6% |
Student > Postgraduate | 7 | 5% |
Other | 19 | 13% |
Unknown | 37 | 26% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
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Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 43 | 30% |
Environmental Science | 4 | 3% |
Computer Science | 4 | 3% |
Immunology and Microbiology | 4 | 3% |
Other | 7 | 5% |
Unknown | 39 | 27% |