Conventional molecular genetic tests assess DNA for sequence and copy number variants; however, an increasing amount of evidence suggests epigenetic modifications play a significant role in human disease (Jim and Liu, 2018). In 1942, the term epigenetics was first used to describe the “whole complex of developmental processes” linking genotype and phenotype. DNA methylation, histone modifications, non-coding RNAs, and higher-order chromatin structure are all part of the epigenome, which are heritable chemical changes that regulate gene activity.
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