2006 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript
This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2006. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.
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What is gene imprinting?
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Chris Austin, M.D.: Imprinting refers to a variety of ways in which DNA is regulated in ways that are not due to sequence changes, but rather to chemical alterations in specific bases. The most common of these is adding methyl (CH3) groups to specific DNA bases, which leads to decreased expression (i.e., use) of the gene. It is called "imprinting" when it occurs in germ cells (eggs or sperm), and is passed on to offspring. Frequently imprinting affects only one or the other of the two chromosomes, and may affect only the mother's or the father's version of the gene. |
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