epigenetics

What: "Epigenetics is like Grandma's notes in the family cookbook. We have 20,000 genes. They turn off and on in response to many factors, including your food and habitat. Each person changes the DNA recipe turns out by the way we live."

Writer: Dr. Theresa Nesbitt

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Date: Apr 29 2014 7:30 PM

What:

""Unfortunately, research in the basic sciences can resemble the blind men and the elephant," says Feinberg, referring to the fable in which one man touches a pachyderm's stout leg and assumes the animal is a pillar; another, the muscular trunk, and thinks snake-and so on. "That's why we are very excited Sean Taverna has joined this Center, the vision for which is for researchers to ask questions and share ideas about basic research from all different angles, as well as to collaborate on experiments and grant-writing." "

Writer: Andy Feinberg

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Date: Apr 29 2014 7:36 PM

What:

"Mozart's compositions are original, but the number of interpretations made on them is countless. Epigenetics is like an orchestral director giving a different flavour to the same notes by modulating different instruments. In this respect, the DNA - the genetic information - is like sheets of music, and epigenetics is the ensemble of conductors and musicians."

Writer: Chioda Cristina

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Date: Apr 29 2014 7:41 PM

What:

'We're compounds, mosaics of epigenetic patterns and gene sequences,'' said Dr. Arthur Beaudet, chairman of the molecular and human genetics department at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. While DNA sequences are commonly compared to a text of written letters, he said, epigenetics is like the formatting in a word processing program."

Writer: Dr. Arthur Beaudet

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Date: Apr 29 2014 7:44 PM

What:

"Epigenetics involves chemical signatures that are added to DNA and proteins that package it, to regulate their activity. The more recognized epigenetic brand is DNA methylation, a process based on the addition of a methyl chemical group into a part of our genetic puzzle. Therefore, while the genetic is like the alphabet, epigenetics is like the punctuation marks of a text."

Writer: Not Stated

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Date: Apr 29 2014 7:43 PM

What:

" IMO, a more apt metaphor would be that Epigenetics is like the Lakers jersey Kobe wears"

Writer: pconroy

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Date: Apr 29 2014 7:47 PM

What: "This is nowhere near the whole story at the sequence level, but for now let's assume it is, as I'm about to add a layer of complexity to it. The prefix epi- in epigenetics comes from Greek, meaning over or on top of as it represents the genetic regulation that supersedes that which is imparted by the DNA sequence, itself. Put another way, epigenetics is like a very elaborate filing system for genetic information in a cell. "

Writer: Rui

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Date: Apr 29 2014 7:54 PM

What:

"Understanding epigenetics is like particle physics, we can be statistically certain but we can NOT be definitive about the role of any single epigenetic modification's role in a disease state or trait inheritance. "

Writer: Chris Wynder

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Date: Apr 29 2014 7:57 PM