Cell & Tissue Science

Epigenetics and Epigenome

The Epigenome is a multitude of chemical compounds that tells the genome what to do whereas Epigenetics is the study of these chemical reactions and the factors that influence them. As an organism grows and develops, carefully orchestrated chemical reactions activate and deactivate parts of the genome at strategic times and in specific locations. The complete assembly of human genome is about 3 billion base pairs of DNA that makes each of the individual unique. DNA holds the instructions for building the proteins that carry out different functions in a cell. The epigenome is made up of chemical compounds and proteins that can attach to DNA and direct such actions as turning genes on or off, controlling the production of proteins in particular cells. The epigenome dynamically responds to the environment. Stress, diet, behavior, toxins, and other factors regulate gene expression.