Oxford University researchers have found that more than 90 percent of the human genome is "junk DNA" that doesn't have an apparent function, The Telegraph reported.

According to the study recently published in the journal PLOS Genetics, only 8.2 percent of human genes have necessary biochemical functions. Scientists hope these new findings will help when it comes to understanding the genetic mutations that lead to disease.

"You would need to look at less than a tenth of the genome and that could speed up the ability to track down the genetic changes," said Chris Ponting of the Medical Research Council's Functional Genomics Unit at Oxford University, as quoted by The Telegraph.

If only 8.2 percent of the human genome is vital to existence, scientists can focus on a much smaller genetic area to understand human diseases and their potential cures.

"If our DNA was largely functional, we'd need to pay attention to every mutation. In contrast, with only 8 percent being functional, we have to work out the 8 percent of the mutations detected that might be important," Ponting said. "If it was possible, you could snip away 90 percent of our genetic information and nothing would change at all."

Earlier research had indicated that 80 percent of the human genome was vital for biochemical function. The new findings show that about 7 percent of DNA is involved in turning genes on and off when it comes to encoding proteins for different functions, while around 1 percent of DNA makes up the proteins themselves.

'We tend to have the expectation that all of our DNA must be doing something. In reality, only a small part of it is," said Dr. Chris Rands of Oxford University, as quoted by The Telegraph.

"The proteins produced are virtually the same in every cell in our body from when we are born to when we die.

"Which of them are switched on, where in the body and at what point in time, needs to be controlled--and it is the 7 percent that is doing this job."

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