Epigenetics: A New Link Toward Understanding Human Disease and Drug Response

Molecular medicine is moving beyond genomics to encompass the new scientific field of epigenetics. First described as a conceptual model of how genes might interact with their surroundings to produce a phenotype, epigenomic research currently investigates mechanisms of nongenetic modification contributing to gene regulation and examines the impact of these changes on human health and behavior. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2012); 92 6, 669–673. doi:10.1038/clpt.2012.179