2. What is Epigenetics?
• epigenetics is the study of inherited changes
in phenotype (appearance) or gene expression
• Epigenetics means “above genetics.”
• There is very little background on epigenetics
because it’s a very new field only about 50
years old!
3. • In the past we thought that a embryo's epigenome was
completely erased and rebuilt from scratch. This is partially
true, some of the epigenetic “tags” remain in place and
therefore pass from generation to generation, this is called
epigenetic inheritance.
4. • It means that a parent's experiences, in
the form of epigenetic tags, can be
passed down to future generations.
• An example is if you smoked your whole life
then you're offspring (children) will have a
higher chance of smoking
5. • The epigenome is like the brain that tells
you're cells what to become. Such as eye cells
or muscle cells. It doesn’t change you're
genes/DNA it just says what genes will be
expressed
• The genome is like the muscle of the process it
carriers out the orders from the Epigenome.
6. Methyl Group
• The methyl group tell you're genome what
genes to express. The Methyl binds differently
in a skin cell or a eye ball cell and that’s one of
the ways a cell knows I'm a skin cell or I'm an
eye ball cell.
7. Histones
• Histones also control epigenetics their like
spools that wind the DNA up around them.
• The tighter there wound the less of the gene
that is expressed or seen.
9. Step 1 of Methylation
• Genome of interest is treated with sodium
bisulfite.
• Un-methylated cytosine residues are converted
to uracil, while methylated cytosine residues are
unaffected.
10. Step 2
• PCR Amplification
• Bisulfite treated DNA is then PCR
amplified, resulting in cytosine residues at
originally methylated positions
