Traits that heritable but are not transmitted by genetic means. Term was first coined by Conrad H. Waddington in 1942. Epigenetic infromation is stored in a structure called the chromatin. Epigenetics is important for coding a cell to type and longevity1.
Pathways:
- Bundling and unbundling DNA
- marking with methyl and acetyl chemical tags
References
1.
PhD, D. A. S. & LaPlante, M. D. Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To. (Atria Books, 2019).