EPIGENETICS
- December 13, 2020
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Subject: Science & tech
Concept:
- Epigenetics refers to chemical changes in our genetic material and proteins that regulate it.
- The best-known epigenetic mark is the methylation, the addition of a methyl chemical group (-CH3) in our DNA. The epigenome consists of all the epigenetic marks of a living being.
- Unlike DNA mutations that are permanent, such epigenetic changes are reversible and are mediated by regulatory proteins such as DNA methyl transferases (DNMTs), histone acetyl transferases (HATs), histone deacetylases (HDACs) and so on.
- These regulatory proteins can add or remove such modifications and can result in turning ON/OFF a specific gene in a tissue or organ specific manner.