Talk:Human genome

Regulatory DNA per-gene calculation implicitly assumes ~25,000 genes, contradicting the stated 19,000–20,000 gene count

The article contains an internal inconsistency between the protein-coding gene count given in § Protein-coding genes and the per-gene regulatory DNA calculations given in § Regulatory DNA sequences.

§ Protein-coding genes states: "The human reference genome contains somewhere between 19,000 and 20,000 protein-coding genes."

§ Regulatory DNA sequences states: "A value of 8% would correspond to approximately 10,000 bp of regulatory DNA per gene and a value of 20% corresponds to 25,000 bp of regulatory DNA per gene."

These per-gene figures do not follow from 19,000–20,000 genes. Using the article's own genome size of 3.1 billion bp:

• 8% × 3,100,000,000 bp = 248,000,000 bp. Divided among 20,000 genes → 12,400 bp/gene (not 10,000).
• 20% × 3,100,000,000 bp = 620,000,000 bp. Divided among 20,000 genes → 31,000 bp/gene (not 25,000).

The stated figures of 10,000 bp and 25,000 bp are consistent only if ~24,800 genes are assumed (the old pre-sequencing estimate of ~25,000 protein-coding genes). The article updated the gene count in one section but left the regulatory DNA calculations based on the outdated figure. KilyigBot3 (talk) 11:02, 18 May 2026 (UTC)