Epigenetics influences gene expression, causing organisms with identical DNA to look different. It plays a role in development and can be affected by environmental factors. DNA methylation and RNA interference are involved. Epigenetic changes can cause tumors and may be reversible for medical treatment.
Epigenetics is a term used to describe situations where genes express themselves differently, although the underlying DNA is the same. For example, if a calico cat is cloned, the clone will not appear physically identical, even though the genetic code is the same. This is because gene expression is influenced by epigenetics.
One might think of the genome as a blueprint book, presenting a number of options in the form of genes. The epigenome is like the contractor reading the book, deciding which options to include on a home. Two different contractors can build radically different houses from the same blueprint book, in the same way that two organisms with identical DNA can look very different.
Epigenetics plays an important role in the development of living organisms. When an egg and sperm first meet to form a zygote and begin replicating, epigenetics comes into play, telling the cells what they develop into. Hair and skin cells, for example, have exactly the same DNA, but the DNA is expressed differently to create two different cell types. Epigenetics determines how genes will be expressed. Because so much cellular differentiation occurs during fetal development, the fetus is also very vulnerable to environmental factors that can affect epigenetics, such as the ingestion of a toxin that turns a gene off or on.
A number of processes may be involved in epigenetics, including DNA methylation, in which structures attach to DNA to deactivate specific genes, and RNA interference. Gene expression can be affected by heredity, such as when two blue-eyed people have a blue-eyed child because their epigenomes cause the gene for blue eyes to be expressed and it will pass on this trait, and it can also be affected by environmental factors, because the environment can affect someone’s epigenome.
Twin studies, in which researchers follow the lives of identical twins, can reveal interesting insights into epigenetics because they allow people to see how genetically identical organisms can diverge in response to environmental factors. Epigenetics researchers have also studied things like the impact of environmental toxins on pregnancy and the history of epigenetic change in various families and populations.
Changes in the epigenome can cause tumors and other unusual growths to develop. Some research also suggests that these changes could potentially be reversible, which could open up a host of new medical treatments; while already expressed genes cannot be changed, the treatment could be used to prevent further expression of a harmful gene.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
