Nutrition and the epigenome.

Epigenetic regulation is central to genome structure and function. Epigenetic status varies between individuals, and there is increasing awareness of the importance of this variation in health and disease. Epigenetic mechanisms include DNA methylation, histone modification, and regulation by noncoding RNAs. Epigenetic control is central to the way in which the genome interacts with, and responds to, the environment and even potentially the way in which the genome can influence its own environment via effects on behavior. The substrates for epigenetic reactions (acetyl and methyl groups) are central to nutritional metabolism, and there is ample evidence for nutritional effects on the epigenome. Challenges in human nutritional epigenetics research include the problem of tissue-specific epigenomes and heterogeneity of response by epigenetic loci. The promise of nutritional epigenetics is that it will help elucidate the way in which nutrition can influence health through direct effects on the genome.

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