DNA Methylation: Conducting the orchestra from exposure to phenotypes

Conditions experienced in early life play a primordial role in determining whether we remain healthy, or have anincreased susceptible to a wide range of common diseases throughout our life. Poor conditions in early life are wellknown to influence the long term risk of developing many major public health problems such as type 2 diabetes,major depression, schizophrenia, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Information about our prior lifeexperience is added onto our genome by epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation. These epigeneticmodifications may occur many years before the associated disease becomes detectable. MetCOEPs looks at howthese entirely natural modifications to our genome influence the activity of the associated genes, and the proteinsthey produce. Understanding this cascade of events will allow us to better understand how our environmentinfluences our wellbeing, and to understand how these epigenetic markers can be used to identify people at risk ofmany diseases, allowing for suitable early interventions that reduce the eventual disease ris