As scientists discover more about the "epigenome," a layer of biochemical reactions that turns genes on and off, they're finding that it plays a big part in health and heredity.

... scientists need a large-scale map that shows how epigenetic patterns relate to disease, said Steve Baylin, an epigeneticist at Johns Hopkins.

"If we knew those patterns," Baylin said, "you could predict which individuals are more at risk -- change their diets, change their exposures, use prevention. We could detect disease early and predict how people respond to drugs."

Making that map won't be easy. Not only does the epigenome change over time, it also differs in every major cell type, of which there are a couple hundred. Epigeneticists say this will be time-consuming but possible.

In Europe, a consortium of public and private institutions is collaborating on the Human Epigenome Project, while mapping in the United States is scattered among a handful of companies and government-funded scientists.

From Wired Article: www.wired.com/news/medtec...8468,00.html

http://tribes.tribe.net/epigenetics