text: Gene deserts are regions of the genome that are devoid of protein-coding genes. Gene deserts constitute an estimated 25% of the entire genome, leading to the recent interest in their true functions. Originally believed to contain inessential and “junk” DNA due to their inability to create proteins, gene deserts have since been linked to several vital regulatory functions, including distal enhancing and conservatory inheritance. Thus, an increasing number of risks that lead to several major diseases, including a handful of cancers, have been attributed to irregularities found in gene deserts. One of the most notable examples is the 8q24 gene region, which, when affected by certain single nucleotide polymorphisms, lead to a myriad of diseases. The major identifying factors of gene deserts lay in their low GpC content and their relatively high levels of repeats, which are not observed in coding regions. Recent studies have even further categorized gene deserts into variable and stable forms; regions are categorized based on their behavior through recombination and their genetic contents. Although current knowledge of gene deserts is rather limited, ongoing research and improved techniques are beginning to open the doors for exploration on the various important effects of these noncoding regions.