An international project to describe in detail the functional regions of the human genome. Initiated in 2003 and funded by the US National Human Genome Research Institute, the project involves scientists throughout the world working under the auspices of the ENCODE Consortium. The results are freely available online and provide valuable information about gene function in health and disease. The project aims to annotate not only all protein-coding genes, but also their DNA regulatory elements such as promoters, enhancers, and silencers, functional RNA transcripts and regulatory RNAs, and chromatin structural changes that affect DNA transcription, including modifications of histone proteins and changes in DNA methylation.

https://www.encodeproject.org Encyclopedia of DNA Elements