Contamination alimentaire et effets épigénétiques

Epigenetics refers to a set of mechanisms that regulate gene expression without changing the DNA sequence, which in addition have the peculiarity to be heritable either by mitosis or through meiosis. Modes of action involve alterations in chromatin state, and/or alterations in mRNA stability and translation, by the action of microRNAs. The food, its quantity and its quality is likely to affect the availability of molecules necessary for the operation of the epigenetic machinery. In addition to the food, environment can bring molecules that act as hormone analogs (EDCs), which can alter the epigenetic code and thus gene expression. Some of these changes are transgenerational. Epigenetics, as an intermediary between the genome (the message) and the transcriptome (and therefore the function) takes a prominent place in our understanding of the living world.