The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance

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Book review – Life Sculpted: Tales of the Animals, Plants, and Fungi That Drill, Break, and Scrape to Shape theEarth September 13, 2023 Medicine at Imperial College London (27 August 2014). "Professor Nessa Carey: 'Science for Life – More career opportunities than you think?' ". YouTube . Retrieved 27 January 2017. Book review – What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities ofBees August 15, 2023 Written in an engaging manner using everyday metaphors to clarify complex concepts and utilizing well–defined diagrams, the author has produced an outstanding book with her wit and expertise. Rita Hoots, NSTA Recommends (National Science Teachers Association)

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A second parallel origin of the concept seems to have had a stronger influence on the present understanding. This second tradition originates with Nanney's (1958) paper, Epigenetic Control Systems, and refers more specifically to the expression of genetic sequences ( Haig, 2012; Griffiths and Stotz, 2013). As Haig explains, in Nanney epigenetic control refers to “which volume in the library of genetic specificities was to be expressed in a particular cell”. It is this second, more squarely molecular meaning that resonates to a greater extent with contemporary practices and that we refer to as ‘molecular epigenetics' to differentiate it from the original, developmentally centered and broader Waddingtonian sense (see for a distinction, Griffiths and Stotz, 2013). In turn this ‘library-scanning' view is itself broad enough to accommodate two only partially overlapping meanings of molecular epigenetics. a b Carey, Nessa (22 January 2017). The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231530712. Carey, Nessa (30 September 2014). "Why Scientists Need to Stop Being People Pleasers". The Huffington Post . Retrieved 13 February 2017. She then worked for five years in the Metropolitan Police forensic science laboratory as a forensic scientist. [8] After studying for her degree in immunology part-time, Carey decided to continue academic research and returned to the University of Edinburgh to pursue doctoral studies. Carey was awarded her Doctorate ( PhD) by research thesis on the virology of the maedi-visna virus which affects sheep, in 1993. [8] [1]

Anyone seriously interested in who we are and how we function should read this book. Peter Forbes, The Guardian Epigenetics has also aroused many fantasies. The notions of reversibility and heritability, in particular, have given rise to a variety of interpretations. Epigenetic marks may be influenced by our environment, the air we breathe or the stress we experience—and transmissible to our children and grandchildren, for example. As a scientist, what is your position on this issue?

the epigenetics revolution - PMC Scrutinizing the epigenetics revolution - PMC

a b c d Carey, Nessa (22 January 2017). Junk DNA: A Journey Through the Dark Matter of the Genome. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231539418. Book review – Endless Novelties of Extraordinary Interest: The Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger and the Birth of ModernOceanography October 19, 2023

The Epigenetics Revolution

Unsurprisingly, this digitizing epistemology, along with the technological frontiers that it discloses and stimulates, is entering as a powerful resource in a reconfiguration of individual and collective responsibilities. The increasingly visible plasticity of the epigenome supports the new postgenomic discourse in which the genome is understood as something malleable that can be trained and modified through an “extended practice” ( Spector, 2012). ‘Practice' is key here, as it captures how the potential reversibility of epigenetic marks grounds the rationale for continuous intervention and/or maintenance that may safeguard their plastic and hence vulnerable states. Responsibility ensues thus in response to both implications of epigenomic plasticity: (i) on the one hand frailty and danger, with the call to protect one's own epigenome from external insults (be they related to lifestyle, occupational hazards, environmental pollutants and so on); (ii) on the other opportunity and resource, with the promise to change and improve upon one's endowment.

Edith Heard, the Epigenetics Revolution | CNRS News Edith Heard, the Epigenetics Revolution | CNRS News

Genes don't just issue instructions: they respond to messages coming from other genes, from hormones and from nutritional cues and learning. Much epigenetics revolves around nutrition. If we drink a lot of alcohol an enzyme that metabolises it becomes more active – "upregulated" in the jargon. And similar mechanisms apply to much of our behaviour. The methods by which genes makes these responses often involve very small chemical modifications (usually the addition of a tiny methyl group to one base of DNA). It is almost certain that memory – a classic nurture problem: we learn something and it becomes biologically encoded – involves epigenetics. Once made, epigenetic changes can be very long lasting, which is how our long-term memory is possible. E. H.: The EMBL is a flexible, proactive structure that adjusts its research priorities on a regular basis. A new research programme is indeed implemented every five years. The current scheme, which runs until 2021, is called Digital Biology and its focus ranges from the functioning of the single cell to that of the entire organism. Once in Heidelberg, my first task will be to think about the next multiyear programme. This will require considerable diplomacy and consultations with our member countries. I would like to point out that the EMBL is independent from the European Union, and that the UK will continue to be part of it after Brexit. Similarly, the foreign researchers who work at our unit in Hinxton, near Cambridge, will not be affected in any way.

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Epigenetics has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the structure and behavior of biological life on earth. It explains why mapping an organism’s DNA code is not enough to determine how it develops or acts and shows how nurture combines with nature to engineer biological diversity. Conducting a survey of the twenty-year history of the field while also showcasing its latest findings, this volume provides a solid introduction for grasping the foundations of epigenetics, the field’s recent discoveries and innovations, and its practical and theoretical applications. Epigenetics is now informing work on drug addiction, the long-term effects of famine, and the physical and psychological consequences of childhood trauma. A leading epigenetics researcher, Nessa Carey also connects the field’s arguments to such diverse phenomena as how ants and queen bees control their colonies, why tortoiseshell cats are always female, why some plants need cold weather before they can flower, and how we age and develop disease. She concludes with future directions for research and the ability for epigenetics to improve human health and well-being. Published in the United Kingdom in 2011 and widely praised on both sides of the Atlantic, this new book is sure to become a classic in modern biology. Epigenetics Revolution by Nessa Carey – eBook Details Nessa Carey is a British biologist working in the field of molecular biology and biotechnology. She is International Director of the technology transfer organization PraxisUnico and a visiting professor at Imperial College London. Carey also talks about monozygotic or identical twins. In his recent book, Plomin surveyed the long-term twin studies he has been involved in (see my review of Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are). One of his (paraphrased) take-home messages was: “Look at how identical these twins are, and how powerful a tool this has been to show that genetics is a huge determinant of behaviour.” And this is true. Yet, despite being 100% genetically identical, such twins are not *completely* identical, and differences accrue as twins age. Epigenetics offers an answer, with differences in environments experienced – starting in the uterus – leading to different epigenetic profiles or epigenomes. “if every cell in a […] body contains all the DNA, all the genetic instructions to make a complete version of itself, then why doesn’t it?”

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An enlightening introduction to what scientists have learned in the past decade about [epigenetics]. Carl Zimmer, The Wall Street Journal

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Early in the book, Carey describes the molecular mechanisms behind epigenetic phenomena. DNA and histone modifications are rightly afforded much insightful commentary, but the role of non-protein coding RNA molecules is exiled to much later and is not, in my opinion, given sufficient attention. Medical Research Council (2015). Meeting Report: MRC Epigenetics workshop. The Oakley Court. Windsor. Berkshire. UK. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link) Epigenetics is what happens when genes are actually in action: in the growth of the foetus, in responding to hormones and environmental stress, to learning, to maturation at puberty. In all of these processes genes are modified slightly and act differently from that point on. In short, epigenetics is where nature meets nurture. The grounds for excitement stem from the fact that this old and frequently sterile dichotomy is now being fleshed out with real knowledge of how genes are controlled and how they respond to life situations. Carey, Nessa (19 February 2015). "The epigenomics roadmap: more exciting than the Genome Project?". BBC World Service Radio . Retrieved 27 January 2017. If all our cells contain the same genetic material at the level of the DNA sequence, how then do they acquire such differing characteristics, and how are these retained? In other words, what causes cells to develop into specific types? Why do liver cells produce more liver cells when they divide? What stops neurons from growing in our heart? Much of Carey's book is devoted to answering these questions by drawing on the (relatively) new science of epigenetics.