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Epigenetics

From ancient Greek π epi 'to, moreover, 'and genetics

Refers to changes in a cell's gene expression that do not involve a change in the DNA code. Instead, the DNA and histones around which the DNA is wrapped are “marked” with removable chemical signals (see demethylation and deacetylation). Epigenetic tags tell other proteins where and when to read the DNA. This is comparable to a post-it on a book page that says “Skip.” A reader will ignore the page, but the book itself hasn't been changed.