The difference in eye colour is determined
by epigenetic factors.
The readability of genes is controlled
by epigenetic factors, namely factors which do not influence the gene sequence directly, but rather cause certain genes and chromosomal segments to be packed in different densities — and thus make them accessible for reading.
Not exact matches
Epigenetics are heritable changes caused
by factors other than DNA.
Indeed, the ability to clone animals, such as Dolly the sheep,
by fusion of an adult cell to an enucleated oocyte demonstrates that the
epigenetic programming responsible for maintaining an adult cell in a stable state can be erased
by factors present in the cytoplasm of the oocyte.
Epigenetic factors modify histone tails
by e.g. transferring methyl or acetyl groups on lysine side chains.
Many properties are determined
by genetic
factors, but we are starting to recognize that also
epigenetic factors are of great importance.
«A general message from these studies is that cancer cells benefit from modulating
epigenetic factors like SIRT6
by acquiring the ability to override normal cellular growth control patterns,» says Mostoslavsky, an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an associate member at the Broad Institute.
Joining forces with dermatologists and oncologists from the University Hospital in Zurich and backed
by the University Research Priority Program «Translational Cancer Research,» Sommer's team was able to demonstrate that, in melanoma cells, the
epigenetic factor EZH2 controls genes that govern tumor growth as well as genes that are important for the formation of metastases.
Washington State University researchers say environmental
factors are having an underappreciated effect on the course of disease and evolution
by prompting genetic mutations through
epigenetics, a process
by which genes are turned on and off independent of an organism's DNA sequence.
A new study
by researchers at the Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine reports which
epigenetic factors in certain chromosomes that make one twin more at risk for autoimmune thyroid diseases.
The methylation of DNA is one of the
epigenetic mechanisms regulating the functioning of the genome, influenced
by not only
by variations in DNA sequence, but also environmental
factors such as fluctuations in the circadian rhythm.
But now, findings
by a McGill team suggest that the solution may lie not with genetics alone, but rather with a combination of genetic and
epigenetic factors.
PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University researchers say environmental
factors are having an underappreciated effect on the course of disease and evolution
by prompting genetic mutations through
epigenetics, a process
by which genes are turned on and off independent of an organism's DNA sequence.
His research is based on the concept that normal brain aging and the pathogeneses of sporadic neurological diseases are not a consequence of a few single or «disease - specific «
factors alone, rather they are driven
by holistic events that include one's individual genetic and
epigenetic condition, progression of aging, and lifestyle.
Epigenetics is the study of how genes can be switched on and off
by factors in the environment or other external
factors rather than an individual's DNA sequence.
Through this packaging mechanism, researchers think that histone proteins are the key to regulating access to the genetic information
by making different parts of the DNA accessible to
factors that express the gene, so - called
epigenetic regulation.
The
epigenetic variation at MEs is determined randomly and is influenced
by many environmental
factors, ranging from the nutritional breakdown of the mother's diet to the season.
Whether these observations reflect causal processes or are confounded
by genetic and social
factors remains unclear, although animal (and some human) studies suggest that
epigenetic programming events may be involved.
The field of
epigenetics provides crucial understanding about the ways that changes to genes caused
by environmental
factors drive disease, specifically chemical modifications on DNA and surrounding proteins that can alter the ways in which genes are expressed, even without the gene itself experiencing a mutation.
The pluripotent population is characterized
by a high degree of plasticity in chromatin structure [3], and lineage specific transcription
factors show bivalent chromatin
epigenetic marks characteristic of both suppression and inactivation [4].
I study genetic and
epigenetic changes induced
by smoking and other environmental
factors to identify the mechanisms that play a role in carcinogenesis.
Shanahan delves into the study of
epigenetics, which is essentially the study of how existing genes can be turned on or off
by lifestyle
factors like diet.
The focus of the conference was connecting how
epigenetics (cellular and physiological phenotypic trait variations that are caused
by external or environmental
factors that switch genes on and off and affect how cells read genes instead of being caused
by changes in the DNA sequence — in other words nutrition and lifestyle choices) impact whether or not an individual actually develops a specific health issue even though they have a SNP mutation.
While many of today's tools were not yet available in 1991, IFM was already focused on using this emerging knowledge to adapt therapies to the patient (rather than the reverse)
by training clinicians to examine the genetic and
epigenetic factors for each patient and to develop an individualized therapeutic approach that addresses these underlying
factors.
A: I'm fascinated
by the field of
epigenetics, which is the study of how environmental
factors like diet, lifestyle, and exposure to toxins directly affect the expression our genes.
The transcription
factor nerve growth
factor - inducible protein a mediates
epigenetic programming: Altering
epigenetic marks
by immediate - early genes