Epigenetics: Nature vs. Nurture

Every cell of our body needs to pack two metres of DNA into its nucleus. According to the cell type, changes in the way the DNA is folded are much like the variety of origami shapes that can be folded from a piece of paper. But how does each cell type know how to pack the DNA in a particular shape, especially as all the cells in our body have identical DNA? In this talk we will discover how cells use epigenetics to mark DNA so that the cellular machinery knows which DNA origami shape to fold.

Lifespan is highly variable across organisms. Surprisingly, it is also highly variable in the tiny worm C. elegans even though these organisms are all genetically identical. This observation reveals the influence of epigenetic regulators on the lifespan of these worms. I will discuss how stress response genes can be used as biomarkers of ageing and tackle the question of whether organisms incorporate a memory of stress that can even be transmitted to future generations.

All cells within an individual carry identical genetic information yet each has a special function which can be distinctly different from neighbouring cells. Epigenetic modifications provide heritable and functional changes to the genome that do not alter the DNA sequence. They do allow each cell to access the relevant information for becoming specialised; for example, evolving into a neural versus a muscle cell. Each cell possesses its own epigenome, which resembles a cellular memory of both developmental and environmental influences.