DNA methylation, epigenetics, immunology

Assistant Professor, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Houston. Age: 35

There are many ways that epigenetic effects regulate the activation or repression of genes. Here are a few molecular tricks cells use to read off the right genetic program.

Epigenetic events regulate the activities of genes without changing the DNA sequence. Different genes are expressed depending on the methyl-marks attached to DNA itself and by changes in the structure and/or composition of chromatin.