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Thank you for listening to this talk on Epigenetics in Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
My name is Andrew Lotery. I'm a Professor of Ophthalmology at University of Southampton,
and I'd also like to acknowledge my co-worker,
Dr. Maria Gemenetzi, who helped in preparing this talk.
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What is Epigenetics?
As this cartoon demonstrates, there is a lot
of mystery about epigenetics and what that actually means.
And so, the purpose of this talk is to try to explain
epigenetics and its role in macular degeneration.
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The epigenome is explained in a nice video which is a reference on this slide,
which highlights the epigenome influences, development, and disease.
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So, a definition of epigenetics is the study of covalent modification of
the genome that alters structure and function but not gene sequence.
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Further, more detailed definitions include one taken from
a 2008 meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, where,
"An epigenetic trait is a stably heritable phenotype resulting from
changes in a chromosome without alterations in the DNA sequence."
Another definition taken from an
NIH roadmap epigenomics mapping consortium, defines epigenetics,
"As both heritable changes in gene activity and
expression (in the progeny of cells or of individuals) and also stable,
long-term alterations in the transcriptional potential
of a cell that are not necessarily heritable."
