We are starting to learn how DNA controls the development of physical structures. Researchers have been able to modify the shapes of various features of developing mice by changing their “non-coding” DNA.
It turns out that so-called “junk DNA”, or “non-coding DNA” is actually the program that controls the use of the coding DNA, and it’s startlingly like a programming language, with switches to turn on and off the use of other parts of the genome depending on context, control flow expressions, and many more.