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Definition

Epigenetics (sometimes also called epigenomics) is a field of study focused on changes in DNA that do not involve alterations in the underlying sequence. The letters in DNA and the proteins that interact with DNA can have chemical modifications that change the level at which genes are turned on and off. Certain epigenetic modifications can be passed from the parent cell to the daughter cell during cell division or from one generation to the next. The set of all epigenetic changes in a genome is called the epigenome.

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EPIGENETICS ¿What is the study of epigenetics?

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EPIGENETICS ¿What is the study of epigenetics?

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What is the study of epigenetics?

Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene function that are heritable and cannot be attributed to alterations in the DNA sequence.

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EPIGENETICS ¿What does the term epi mean?

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EPIGENETICS ¿What does the term epi mean?

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The term epi means above. It is a Greek prefix. It is also defined as above the DNA base sequence. In general terms it can be compared to the accents of the words where the DNA is the language and the modifications are the accents. Epigenetic marks change the way genes are expressed.

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There are two types of modifications: DNA methylation and histone modification. DNA methylation is altered in cancer so if we know what the normal methylation pattern is and then look at the methylation pattern in a tumor we could see what changes were taking place and which genes were affected.

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The promise of epigenetics is that it tells us about the cell, it's a way of defining the cell that is different than simply looking at gene expression levels. Any type of cell we look at has specialized epigenetic patterns.