The other region I'll introduce to you is what's referred to as intergenic regions.
These are the areas that are found between genes.
Now, just because it's not found in a protein coding gene does not mean it's not
important.
Does not mean that it does not have a function.
In fact, a lot of these intergenic regions are functional.
Several of them regulate how much messenger RNA is produced.
Especially from neighboring genes but not exclusively and some times the intergenic
regions even produce other types of RNAs that we've talked about here.
So let me give you a fictitious example, these are three real genes but
I've diagrammed them not how they truly are.
So let's say there's the check two gene.
Check two you may have heard of, because there is mutations in it
that are associated with a fivefold greater risk of breast cancer.
I have another gene here I refer to as NF2.
Another gene here, I refer to as Sox3.
I've depicted them again, fictitiously, so
that they're not actually right next to each other, like this.
So check to as I predicted here would have this.
Also codes for a messenger RNA.
And ultimately that is really to amino acid sequence.
But maybe a segment here, this is the intergenic region.
This segment right here may actually affect,
depending on the DNA sequence that is found here,
may affect how much of this check two messenger RNA is actually produced.
So this segment is actually vitally important and
it effects how much of is produced, which will then also potentially effect
how much of the protein is ultimately produced.
It does have a function, but
its sequence does not affect the amino acid sequence of this check to protein.