The human genome contains large areas with hypervariable DNA methylation that are associated with deregulation of gene expression. This epigenetic variation may be necessary for differentiation, but it also provides a mechanism for Darwinian evolution at the cellular level that may underlie age-related diseases such as cancer.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
A comparison of epigenetic mitotic-like clocks for cancer risk prediction
Genome Medicine Open Access 24 June 2020
-
Systems-epigenomics inference of transcription factor activity implicates aryl-hydrocarbon-receptor inactivation as a key event in lung cancer development
Genome Biology Open Access 20 December 2017
-
epiG: statistical inference and profiling of DNA methylation from whole-genome bisulfite sequencing data
Genome Biology Open Access 21 February 2017
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Hansen, K.D. et al. Nat. Genet. 43, 768–775 (2011).
Lister, R. et al. Nature 462, 315–322 (2009).
Issa, J.P. et al. Nat. Genet. 7, 536–540 (1994).
Wilson, V.L. & Jones, P.A. Science 220, 1055–1057 (1983).
Niwa, T. & Ushijima, T. Adv. Genet. 71, 41–56 (2010).
Hanawalt, P.C. & Spivak, G. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 9, 958–970 (2008).
Bird, A. Genes Dev. 16, 6–21 (2002).
Liang, G. et al. Mol. Cell. Biol. 22, 480–491 (2002).
Finnegan, E.J. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 5, 101–106 (2002).
Sollars, V. et al. Nat. Genet. 33, 70–74 (2003).
Sharma, S.V. et al. Cell 141, 69–80 (2010).
Bock, C. et al. Cell 144, 439–452 (2011).
Toyota, M. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 8681–8686 (1999).
Deaton, A.M. et al. Genome Res. 21, 1074–1086 (2011).
Issa, J.P. & Kantarjian, H.M. Clin. Cancer Res. 15, 3938–3946 (2009).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Issa, JP. Epigenetic variation and cellular Darwinism. Nat Genet 43, 724–726 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.897
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.897
This article is cited by
-
Assessing Differential Variability of High-Throughput DNA Methylation Data
Current Environmental Health Reports (2022)
-
A comparison of epigenetic mitotic-like clocks for cancer risk prediction
Genome Medicine (2020)
-
Somatic genetic rescue in Mendelian haematopoietic diseases
Nature Reviews Genetics (2019)
-
Epigenetics, Inflammation, and Periodontal Disease
Current Oral Health Reports (2019)
-
Statistical and integrative system-level analysis of DNA methylation data
Nature Reviews Genetics (2018)