The Mystery Genes That Are Keeping You Alive

Researchers have catalogued the human ‘unknome’, the one-fifth of human genes whose purpose remains mysterious. Many of them could have important functions. Out of 260 of these mystery genes, at least 60 seem to be essential to life. In experiments with fruit flies, which share many genes with humans, removing any one of these essential mystery genes caused the insects to die. Other genes seem to have important roles in reproduction, growth, movement and stress resilience.