http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/plus/sfg/resources/res_epigenetics.dtl
For decades, our view of heredity has been written in the language of DNA -- and genetic mutations and recombinations have driven most descriptions of how phenotypic traits are handed down from one generation to another. Yet, as is amply demonstrated in Science's special issue of 10 August 2001, recent discoveries in the field of epigenetics -- the study of heritable changes in gene function that occur without a change in the DNA sequence -- have blurred that neat picture, and are changing the way researchers think about heredity. Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone acetylation, and RNA interference, and their effects in gene activation and inactivation, are increasingly understood to be more than "bit players" in phenotype transmission and development. And, with the prospect of human cloning now being actively discussed in some quarters, understanding the twists and turns of epigenetic inheritance has become especially important.
To provide an extra dimension to coverage in the 10 August 2001 special issue, we're launching a new epigenetics section here on the Science Functional Genomics Web site. On this page, you'll find a collection of links to interesting Web resources on chromatin, methylation, imprinting, and a variety of other topics with an epigenetics bend. Also, we've gathered together a selection some groundbreaking research papers, Reviews, and Perspectives published in Science over the past five years, in a special new epigenetics section of our Functional Genomics Research Archive.
For decades, our view of heredity has been written in the language of DNA -- and genetic mutations and recombinations have driven most descriptions of how phenotypic traits are handed down from one generation to another. Yet, as is amply demonstrated in Science's special issue of 10 August 2001, recent discoveries in the field of epigenetics -- the study of heritable changes in gene function that occur without a change in the DNA sequence -- have blurred that neat picture, and are changing the way researchers think about heredity. Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone acetylation, and RNA interference, and their effects in gene activation and inactivation, are increasingly understood to be more than "bit players" in phenotype transmission and development. And, with the prospect of human cloning now being actively discussed in some quarters, understanding the twists and turns of epigenetic inheritance has become especially important.
To provide an extra dimension to coverage in the 10 August 2001 special issue, we're launching a new epigenetics section here on the Science Functional Genomics Web site. On this page, you'll find a collection of links to interesting Web resources on chromatin, methylation, imprinting, and a variety of other topics with an epigenetics bend. Also, we've gathered together a selection some groundbreaking research papers, Reviews, and Perspectives published in Science over the past five years, in a special new epigenetics section of our Functional Genomics Research Archive.
