Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

Environmental Stimuli And Intragenerational Epigenetics, Nicholas J. Napier

Student Scholarship

Epigenetics is the study of any change in gene expression that is not mediated by DNA sequence. The effects of environmental stimuli on epigenetic changes have been studied extensively in recent years. Multiple reviews have provided comprehensive summations of the effects of environmental stimuli on transgenerational epigenetic changes, but few reviews have focused upon environment-induced intragenerational epigenetic changes. This review will summarize current knowledge of the intragenerational epigenetic changes that are induced by two groups of well-studied environmental stimuli: nutritional deficiencies and carcinogens. This survey of intragenerational epigenetic changes will focus upon the mechanisms behind them, the disorders associated with …