Wikipedia notes the term "junk DNA" was introduced in 1972 as a "provisional label for the portions of the DNA sequence of a chromosome or a genome for which no function has been identified".
A San Jose Mercury News article claims it is 97% of our genome.
http://www.cephas-library.com/news_dna_junk.html (http://www.cephas-library.com/news_dna_junk.html)
A visionary researcher named Malcolm Simons got together with entrepreneur Mervyn Jacobson and formed Genetic Technologies, getting a quick-draw on patenting junk DNA.
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s898887.htm (http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s898887.htm)
Israel has heavy involvement in research partnerships for genome technology. Scroll past the article archives and take a look.
http://www.junkdna.com/2006.html (http://www.junkdna.com/2006.html)