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Review
. 2019 Apr 15;374(1770):20180126.
doi: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0126.

Making headway towards understanding how epigenetic mechanisms contribute to early-life effects

Maja Vukic  1 , Haoyu Wu  1 , Lucia Daxinger  1
Affiliations
Review

Making headway towards understanding how epigenetic mechanisms contribute to early-life effects

Maja Vukic et al. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. .

Abstract

It has become clear that in addition to the DNA sequence there is another layer of information, termed epigenetic modifications, that can influence phenotypes and traits. In particular, environmental epigenomics, which addresses the effect of the environment on the epigenome and human health, is becoming an area of great interest for many researchers working in different scientific fields. In this review, we will consider the current evidence that early-life environmental signals can have long-term effects on the epigenome. We will further evaluate how recent technological advances may enable us to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying these phenomena, which will be crucial for understanding heritability in health and disease. This article is part of the theme issue 'Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine'.

Keywords: DNA methylation; early-life effects; epigenetics; histone modifications.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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