Epigenetics

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/epigenetics

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the environmental modulators?Dietary components, toxins, stress, and aging are significant drivers of epigenetic alterations
2. What are epigenetics and how do they work?Epigenetics are like secret switches that can turn genes on or off without changing the DNA code. They use things called DNA methylation and histone modifications to make genes easier or harder to read by the cell.
3. How can food like folate and methionine affect our genes?These foods give the body methyl groups that help add methyl marks to DNA. Those marks can turn genes off or on, so what we eat can influence how our genes behave.

Chromatin: The complex of DNA and proteins (histones) that forms chromosomes within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells.
Histones: Proteins around which DNA is coiled, playing a key role in packaging DNA and regulating gene expression.
Epigenetic Drift: The gradual accumulation of epigenetic changes over time, particularly evident in aging and in comparing identical twins.
Epigenetic Biomarkers: Specific epigenetic modifications that can indicate the presence or risk of a disease.