Epigenetic Advances

Epigenetic's is becoming very popular in the science world. Researchers have found that epigenetics has proven that environmental factors affect characteristics of organisms through extensive scientific experiments. One experiment researchers conducted was with a laboratory strain of Fruit flies. These fruit flies have white eyes the fruit fly embryos are normally nurtured in 25 degrees Celsius and was then briefly raised to 37 degrees Celsius, the fruit fly embryo's later hatched with red eyes. If these fruit flies were then crossed, their offspring will be partly red-eyed, even without any temperature change. Concluding that environment affects inheritance. This is just one example of epigenetic research.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090412081315.htm

More recently, researchers have been looking more closely at MicroRNA's (miRNA's) and cancer. They have found that a global reduction of miRNA levels is emerging from cancer. Researchers say that several strands of evidence has shown that epigenetic silencing of miRNA genes is responsible for the deregulation. The studies show that miRNA directly repress enzymes of the epigenetic machinery including DNA methyltransferases, histone deacetylases and histone methyltransferases. These discoveries will help researchers look more closely to miRNA individual ability to regulate multiple target genes, this eventually may help researchers help manipulate molecular pathways altered in cancer and discover a more therapeutic way to treat cancer.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19907325