Time magazine: The age of epigenetics has arrived

In Time magazine’s cover story this week, John Cloud explores the potential of epigenetics.

The article highlights the past and current biomedical research projects pushing this important issue in biology forward, and concludes with the statement that “the age of epigenetics has arrived.”

Researchers in the epigenetics field study changes in gene activity that get passed down to at least one successive generation but are not associated with DNA. They investigate how lifestyle and the environment change the way our genes are expressed, and how the medical community might be able to use these facts to its fight disease.

Included in the article, Cloud cites breakthrough research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that has provided the foundation for additional research in the field.  In September 2008, the NIH launched a five-year epigenomics initiative entitled the Roadmap Epigenomics Program to conduct research on how epigenetic processes could lead to more effective ways to prevent and treat disease.

Thanks to the funding and the foundation of research on epigenetics, Researchers at the Southern California’s Salk Institute are performing cutting-edge research to help the cause.  And in October 2009, Salk researchers announced the first mapping of the human epigenome.

According to Linda Birnham at NIH, this research and subsequent paper “will help us better understand how a diseased cell differs from a normal cell, which will enhance our understanding of the pathways of the various diseases.”

Important epigenetics research continues around the country in this field.  For a full list of funded research projects, visit here.