The underlying component

When taking the assessment test for class, one question that I came across was number 46 which asks:

Genomic imprinting, DNA methylation, and histone acetylation are all examples of which one of the following (choose one):

A) chromosomal rearrangements.
B) karyotypes.
C) translocation.
D) genetic mutation.
E) epigenetic inheritance.

I actually ended up getting this question right, but I could not for the life of me remember what epigenetics was, I just knew that none of the other answers were correct. So this made me want to do a little more research on epigenetics to get a stronger idea of what this question was talking about.

Lets first look at the word itself. epi- means above or over in greek, -genetics; so above genetics which suggests something else is going on. This is exactly what epigenetics is. Epigenetics can be defined as the study of the transmission of information from a cell or multicellular organism to its offspring without that information being encoded in the DNA nucleotide sequence of the gene. When doing epigenetics studies and research, it suggests that the effects of environmental pollution and stress can be passed on to future generations without any obvious mutation or change in the DNA. Some examples of ways this can happen are through near invisible effects that alter microRNA as well as DNA methylation.

A scientist that specifically studies epigenetics and evolution, Dr. Jablonka, has found over 100 examples of this phenomena through literature searches, ranging from bacteria to human beings. She says that stress can affect the development of cancer and other chronic diseases and that one of the main causes is the stress of pollutants in our atmosphere. Dr. Jablonka advises "that it might be prudent to reconsider all the environmental pollutants being introduced into the planet's ecosystems. Some pesticides and fungicides are androgen suppressors and have many effects on gene expression -- and these effects can be inherited. Whether and how future generations can endure with these altered gene functions are still open questions."

So next time we research diseases, remember that our DNA can give us insight into what is happening, but specific aspects of the "story" may be hidden in epigenetics!

(A story called You are what your father ate too talks about epigenetics as well and is interesting if you'd like to take a look)