Epigenetics is the STUDY of inherited changes in phe-notype (appearance) or gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence. Seminal "work in the field was conducted during the 1950s by Barbara McClintock, who while working at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory revealed that there were heritable yet reversible modifications in human gene expression that occurred over generations. In 1975 Arthur Riggs and Robin Holliday separately reported that DNA modification was mediated by cytosine methylation. DNA methylation represented an entirely new mechanism for the regulation of gene expression. A second fundamental observation was made in 1964 by Vincent Allfrey at Rockefeller University, who posited that the reversible acetylation of nuclear histone proteins could also regulate transcription. However, it wasn't until 1996, when C. David Allis's laboratory cloned the histone acetyltransferase (HAT1) and confirmed its homol-ogy with yeast Gcn5 almost simultaneously with Schreiber's laboratory at Harvard University describing the first histone deacetylase (HDAC), that Allfrey's original observation was confirmed and the field of epigenetics was born.
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机译：表观遗传学是研究由潜在 DNA 序列变化以外的机制引起的 phe-notype（外观）或基因表达的遗传变化。芭芭拉·麦克林托克（Barbara McClintock）在1950年代进行了该领域的开创性工作，她在冷泉港实验室工作时发现，人类基因表达中存在可遗传但可逆的修饰，这些修饰发生在几代人中。1975年，Arthur Riggs和Robin Holliday分别报道了DNA修饰是由胞嘧啶甲基化介导的。DNA甲基化代表了一种全新的基因表达调控机制。1964年，洛克菲勒大学的文森特·奥尔弗雷（Vincent Allfrey）提出了第二个基本观察结果，他认为核组蛋白的可逆乙酰化也可以调节转录。然而，直到 1996 年，当 C. David Allis 的实验室克隆组蛋白乙酰转移酶 （HAT1） 并确认其与酵母 Gcn5 的同源性时，几乎与哈佛大学的 Schreiber 实验室描述了第一个组蛋白脱乙酰酶 （HDAC），Allfrey 的原始观察结果得到了证实，表观遗传学领域诞生了。
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