The protein encoded by this intronless gene is a member of a large family of histone lysine demethylases, which use oxygen and 2-oxoglutarate to demethylate di- and trimethylated lys9 of histone H3. Derepression of genes by demethylases is sometimes involved in viral infection or carcinogenesis, so inhibitors of these enzymes are desired. [provided by RefSeq, Dec 2016].