Lecture 8: Epigenetics

• Epigenetics - study of mechanisms that change gene expression by modifying the DNA without modifyings its base sequence
• Epigenetics - study of changes in the regulation of gene activity and expression that are not dependent on the gene sequence
• epigenetic mechanisms - control the accessibility of genome at right place and time
• dna methylation - methyl is added in the cytosine of 5’ -CG-3’ di-nucleotides
• modification of histones, when it is methylated it tightens up the DNA restricting access to genes
• modification of histones by acetylation unravels the DNA making genes more available for activation
• nutrigenomics - study of how food affects our genes