Maternal and paternal factors influence offspring development and program its genome for
successful postnatal life. Based on the stressors during gestation, the pregnant female …

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental
disorders characterized by problems with social communication, social interaction, and …

DNA methylation is a major epigenetic modification in the genomes of higher eukaryotes. In
vertebrates, DNA methylation occurs predominantly on the CpG dinucleotide, and …

Despite advances in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease (CVD), this
group of multifactorial disorders remains a leading cause of mortality worldwide. CVD is …

Constitutive expression of telomerase prevents senescence and crisis by maintaining
telomere homeostasis. However, recent evidence suggests that telomerase is dynamically …

We report on observations of the global methylation/demethylation pattern of both pronuclei
in human zygotes and in early embryos up to the blastocyst stage. Our results demonstrate …

The past few years have seen remarkable progress in our understanding of embryonic stem
cell (ES cell) biology. The necessity of examining human ES cells in culture, coupled with …

Epigenetics is traditionally defined as the study of heritable changes in gene expression
caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence. There are …

Epigenetic processes affect three stages of germline development, namely (1) specification
and formation of primordial germ cells and their germline derivatives through lineage …

There is increasing evidence for epigenetically mediated transgenerational inheritance
across taxa. However, the evolutionary implications of such alternative mechanisms of …