PUBHEHS 6330: Environmental Epigenetics

Epigenetics is an exciting and rapidly growing field of science, with increasing applications in molecular biology, epidemiology and environmental science. Epigenetics is the study of biological mechanisms that will influence exposed host gene expression without altering DNA sequences. Epigenetic patterns of individuals can change over time by different environmental influences that explain a link between nature and nurture. For example, how identical twins with the same genetically information show different susceptibilities to disease. One of the mechanisms is changes in DNA methylation. The course will provide a solid foundation in epigenetics and introduce the basic mechanisms of epigenetic control of gene expression, major laboratory methods, and research applications of in molecular biology, epidemiology, and the environmental sciences.