Abstract:

Why we are born to be different? Canonical genetics believes that it is gene which determines phenotypes. However, it can not explain why identical twins with nearly the same sets of genes are still different in various characteristics. Emerging evidences support that what makes us different is epigenetics. Epigenetics refers to the study of stably heritable phenotype resulting from changes in chromatin without alterations in the DNA sequence, including DNA methylation, histone covalent modification and non-coding RNAs, etc. This review paper introduces the core concepts and contents of epigenetics vividly, depicting the roles that epigenetic modifications (DNA methylation and histone modification) play in the early embryonic development emphatically, which help us to better understand the role of epigenetics in the new life development.