The epigenome is far more sensitive to the environment than once appreciated. Diet, obesity, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, thermal stress, and other lifestyle factors can alter DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNA profiles in ways that persist not just within an individual but across generations.
How these changes are established in the germline and whether they survive epigenetic reprogramming during development are questions of direct relevance to human health and disease.
This collection spans mechanistic studies of how specific exposures alter the gametic epigenome, investigations of reprogramming at fertilization and early embryogenesis, and analyses of lifestyle-associated epigenetic variation. Together, they reflect both the plasticity of the epigenome and the biological constraints on what actually gets transmitted to offspring.
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