An introduction to epigenetics in just four minutes!

The Beginning: unraveling the mystery

"Mystery creates wonder, and wonder is the basis of a man’s desire to understand.” – Neil Armstrong

Epigenetics is a field of biology which encompasses much that is still uncovered, however let us begin with what we do know and search for the answers hidden beneath. The beginning of our mystery was brought to light by Conrad Waddington in 1942. His concept of epigenetics was one used to describe the existence of mechanisms of inheritance that went above or over the standard genetic norm.

This branch of genetics explains the manner in which external factors may influence our genes not only today, but also in our future generations. According to this, the saying “you are what you eat” is epigenetically correct, and the importance of the role the environment plays in our lives has reached an even higher level. None the less, how does our environment play an epigenetic role? What does it mean to influence our genes, and what kind of influence are we speaking of?

To begin, let’s set an example of the difference between genetics and epigenetics where we relate these two terms to a good book. Genetics would then take the role of the text. All genes would become the words that have been written and make the book what it is. In every copy of the book, the same text is printed; the same words are transcribed. However, not all readers understand the same thing. The story could be interpreted a million different ways and, in a sense, all of them would be correct. In similar fashion, epigenetics permits the different interpretations of the text (genes) which results in distinct readings. In other words, epigenetics is the different punctuation marks that control the context of genes.

These marks, which are mitotically heritable, help regulate gene expression by silencing or activating genes. As mentioned before, they do not change the genome sequence but rather influence it through various modifications such as: histone variants, histone modifications, chromatin binding, etc. These will be explained soon. Welcome to a world brimming with mysteries waiting to be unraveled.



Written by: Gabriela Matos Maldonado