Evidence is mounting that epigenetic marks on DNA can influence future generations in a variety of ways. But how such phenomena might affect large-scale evolutionary processes is hotly debated.
Generation-spanning maps of Arabidopsis thaliana DNA methylation allow researchers to compute how quickly epigenetic marks appear and disappear in the plant’s genome.
A pair of new studies finds that analyzing material from a Pap smear can reveal tumor risk in distant parts of the body, potentially allowing early interventions.
Parents’ mutations, even if they’re not inherited by offspring, could affect subsequent generations through changes to epigenetic marks, a study finds.
After initially discovering that DNA methylation represses transcription, Howard Cedar continues to explore how the epigenetic mark regulates gene expression.