Epigenetics and Heritable Control of Gene Expression
By Rebecca Roberts,
The Scientist
| 12. 18. 2024
The epigenome regulates nearly every process in the human body. By studying epigenetics, scientists have revealed some secrets to aging, cancer, and complex diseases.
Since its discovery in the early 1940s, epigenetics has been established as a key driver of human development, health, aging, and disease, and is now a burgeoning field of research. In this article, we discover how the epigenome can affect phenotype without changing the underlying DNA sequence, the different types of epigenetic modifications, how epigenetic marks are inherited, its effects on aging and disease, and how the epigenome can be modified for therapeutic benefit.
What Is Epigenetics?
Epigenetics is the study of various heritable alterations that control gene expression without changing the DNA sequence.1 The name epigenetics comes from the Greek prefix “epi”, which means on top of, or in addition to, genetics.2 The collection of epigenetic marks in a cell or organism is known as its epigenome.
“Epigenetics is the layer of control that sits on top of the DNA sequence itself, and it's what dictates if genes turn on or not,” explained bioengineer Brian Cosgrove, who works as a principal scientist at the epigenome editing startup Tune Therapeutics. “Another way to think about...
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Following a long-standing CGS tradition, we present a selection of our favorite Biopolitical Times posts of the past year.
In 2025, we published up to four posts every month, written by 12 authors (staff, consultants and allies), some in collaboration and one simply credited to CGS.
These titles are presented in chronological order, except for three In Memoriam notices, which follow. Many more posts that are worth your time can be found in the archive. Scroll down and “VIEW...
