CLINICAL MEDICINE

Detailed explanation-1: -Waddington introduced the term epigenetics in 1942 (Waddington, 1942) as a refinement of his conception of an “epigenetic landscape” (Waddington, 1940).

Detailed explanation-2: -The term “epigenetics” was introduced in 1942 by embryologist Conrad Waddington, who, relating it to the 17th century concept of “epigenesis", defined it as the complex of developmental processes between the genotype and phenotype.

Detailed explanation-3: -Better known, however, is the theory of epigenesis formulated by the German physician and naturalist C. F. Wolff (1734-1794), which he proposed to counter the preformation-ist theory: epigenesis theory claimed that structures arise during development that are not already (pre-) formed (Wolff 1759, 1764).

Detailed explanation-4: -Epigenetics means ‘above genetics’ and it was originally conceived by Waddington himself to describe the existence of mechanisms of inheritance in addition to (over and above) standard genetics (Bard, 2008).

Detailed explanation-5: -"Epi-"means on or above in Greek, and “epigenetic” describes factors beyond the genetic code. Epigenetic changes are modifications to DNA that regulate whether genes are turned on or off. These modifications are attached to DNA and do not change the sequence of DNA building blocks.