Epigenetics and Its Ethical Implications

The biologist Conrad Waddington first coined the term epigenetics, defining it as "the branch of biology that studies the causal interactions between genes and their products and creates a phenotype." The molecular mechanisms underlying epigenetics are complex. Epigenetic changes are rapid, functional, nonstructural, and reversible, and these DNA changes are partly transmissible from one generation to the next. These modifications affect the activation of certain genes but not their basic structure. In this context, the epigenome of an individual allows it to better adapt to the environment in which it finds itself. Epigenetics is also involved in the pathogenesis of other diseases, such as cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases. Epigenetic changes are potentially reversible, so new epigenetic therapies may be developed for tumors that have an epigenetic component and for other diseases. If the epigenetic markings can be passed on to future generations, the inherited advantage, more frequently the disadvantage, passes to the new generations, and in this way the injustices are perpetuated.