Cancer Research UK: The genes that build our cells make up only 2% of our DNA · May 31–Jun 10, 2026

This episode is brought to you by Cancer Research UK. Here's something strange. Your DNA contains more ancient viral fragments than genes. The genes that build our cells make up only 2% of our DNA. And for years, that is what scientists focused on. They treated the rest, the ancient viruses and stuff, as junk. But now we know that that hidden majority, sometimes called the dark genome, influences how our biology works and how diseases like cancer behave. It's a reminder that progress rarely comes as a single breakthrough. It builds gradually. Cancer Research UK plays a central role in that progress, supporting decades of research into over 200 types of cancer, work that's helped double survival in The UK over the past fifty years. For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research breakthroughs, and how you can support them, visit cancerresearchuk.org forward slash the rest is science.