Michael Yudell - Welcome to the Genome

Researchers were able to examine the methylation patterns of the DNA in an important gene called insulin‐like growth factor II (IGF2) of women who suffered through the Dutch Hunger Winter. Six decades after the famine, women exposed to it had much less methylation of IGF2 than women who escaped the famine. The implication of the study is that early mammalian development is an incredibly important stage where DNA sequences are highly prone to methylation tags as a result of some environmental shock like famine. Such methylation alters the gene expression of important genes involved in many phenotypes. More importantly, these methylation patterns can persist for long periods of time.

The Dutch Hunger Winter case is only one of many where epigenetic factors like DNA methylation and histone modification have an impact on human health. Epigenetic factors are also important in other organisms and have been implicated in many evolutionary phenomena. (83)

Figure 1.12The mechanisms of epigenetics.

Credit: National Institutes of Health

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