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Nature Reviews Genetics | AOP, published online 10 March 2009; doi:10.1038/nrg2562
Ethics watch
ethicaL imPLications of ePigenetics research
New advances in epigenetics research are being reported at an accelerating rate. Intriguing research findings, primarily from animal studies, show that epigenetic changes tend to occur at a much higher frequency than mutations in DNA sequence, that the susceptibility to epigenetic changes is greater at earlier stages of development, and that epigenetic changes are often reversible1,2. Importantly, a growing body of data from animal and human studies suggests that alterations in gene expression that are due to epigenetic processes, such as DNA methylation, can be inherited and affect future generations3,4.
Epigenetics research holds great promise for elucidating pathways that affect the progression from environmental exposure to phenotypic expression. It will have significant implications for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of disorders. Although a vast amount of literature has built up in the last two decades on the ethical implications of genomic research and applications, there is no comparable literature on the ethical implications of epigenetics research. Here we discuss four of these ethical issues.
First we consider environmental justice. Epigenetic effects have been associated with exposure to various toxic chemicals, airborne...