Computational epigenomics

Epigenetics is particularly relevant in driving cellular differentiation, controlling tissue-specific transcriptional programs, determining imprinting and X chromosome inactivation, and can be altered in diseases. During social interaction tests, mice investigate each other primarily by sniffing their anogenital region, their head, or the rest of their body, by crawling over and under each other, and reciprocal following. DNA methylation is a covalent modification of the genomic DNA, in which a methyl group is added to cytosines within a precise sequence context. Core histones are fundamental building blocks of nucleosomes, contributing to higher order structure and compactness of the DNA. Genome editing is an active area of research, where proteins are engineered to target DNA nucleases to specific genomic regions, generating break-points and taking advantage of the endogenous repair mechanisms of the cells to introduce exogenous oligonucleotides carrying the desired mutations.