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. 2009 Winter;19(1):1-62.

The ghost in our genes: legal and ethical implications of epigenetics

Mark A Rothstein  1 , Yu Cai, Gary E Marchant
Affiliations

The ghost in our genes: legal and ethical implications of epigenetics

Mark A Rothstein et al. Health Matrix Clevel. 2009 Winter.

Abstract

Epigenetics is one of the most scientifically important, and legally and ethically significant, cutting-edge subjects of scientific discovery. Epigenetics link environmental and genetic influences on the traits and characteristics of an individual, and new discoveries reveal that a large range of environmental, dietary, behavioral, and medical experiences can significantly affect the future development and health of an individual and their offspring. This article describes and analyzes the ethical and legal implications of these new scientific findings.

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References

    1. Dolinoy Dana C, Weidman Jennifer R, Jirtle Randy L. Epigenetic Gene Regulation: Linking Early Developmental Environment to Adult Disease. Reproductive Toxicology. 2007;23:297, 298. - PubMed

    1. As one leading scientific journal recently observed, “[w]e have recently witnessed an explosion of research efforts, meetings and symposia, international initiatives, internet resources, commercial enterprises, and even a recent textbook dedicated to epigenetics.” Goldberg Aaron D, Allis CDavid, Bernstein Emily. Epigenetics: A Landscape Takes Shape. 128 Cell. 2007;635:635.. The National Institutes of Health selected epigenetics as one of its two top-priority “Roadmap Initiatives” for 2008 and has committed $190 million in funding over the next five years. Pennisi Elizabeth. Are Epigeneticists Ready for Big Science? 319 Science. 2008:1177..

    1. Waddington Conrad H. The Epigenotype. 1 Endeavour. 1942;18:18.

    1. Epigenetic Mechanisms of Gene Regulation 1 (Vincenzo E. A. Russo, Robert A. Martienssen & Arthur D. Riggs eds., 1996). DNA consists of a sequence of four different DNA bases or “nucleotides” that consist of adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C). The order of these nucleotides in a specific functional stretch of DNA called a gene conveys the informational content of DNA. In the DNA double helix, which consists of two parallel strands of DNA bound together in a coiled spiral, C’s always bind with G’s on the complementary strand, and A’s bind with T’s.

    1. See Pierce Benjamin A. Genetics: A Conceptual Approach. 2. 2006. pp. 433–68. (explaining transcription and gene regulation, mutation and gene products).

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