Epigenetics

Epigenetic phenomena are increasingly recognized as having significant economic and medical relevance. For instance, certain human disease syndromes may be due to the inheritance of paternal-specific patterns of gene activity that are largely independent of DNA sequence. This book both assesses our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms that direct epigenetic phenomena, and discusses how future work should not only provide solutions for biotechnologists and medical researchers who are seeking to express genes, but should also uncover new and so far unexplored areas of molecular and cell biology. The authors use our extensive knowledge of basic transcriptional control as a foundation to explore the more complex and interesting levels at which genes can be regulated. They discuss the role of chromosomal domains in gene silencing, the parameters that determine the activity of transgenes in plants and animals, the host defence mechanisms that protect organisms from the danger of integrating foreign DNA into their chromosome, and the importance of genomic imprinting in development and human disease.