Researchers have found that some DNA once dismissed as useless may help activate genes. The material, often called junk DNA or noncoding DNA, had long been treated as biologically inactive. A new investigation says parts of it carry information that can influence how nearby genes are switched on. That finding challenges the old assumption that all noncoding sequences lack a function. The researchers describe the work as removing a stigma that had followed these genetic segments for years. The sequences may offer new clues about how cells regulate gene activity, though practical medical uses remain uncertain.