The genome a short history of different views

A crucial question is whether the eukaryotic genome is fully described by Winkler s definition (as proposed, often only implicitly, in all current textbooks of Molecular or Cell Biology, Genetics, Evolution), and by its subsequent modifications, or whether it is more than the sum of its parts. This dilemma may also be phrased differently, whether the component parts of the genome are endowed with simple additive properties, or with cooperative properties. 

The first view, in which genes were visualized as distributed at random in the bulk of non-coding DNA, which would be junk DNA (Ohno, 1972) or, at least, selfish DNA  

Genome size, coding sequences and gene numbers in some representative organisms. 

Organism Genome size Mb Coding sequences % Gene number kb/gene  

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