Inheritance of DNA methylation state in humans

在对常见疾病的研究中，越来越明显的是，不仅个人的DNA序列可以编码疾病的易感性，而且该序列的化学修饰也是如此。尽管这些化学修饰在疾病的发展中很重要，但还没有对它们在人类中跨代传播的程度进行全面调查。这项提案将研究DNA甲基化这一修饰是如何遗传的。

In the study of common disease, it is becoming apparent that it is not only an individual's DNA sequence that can encode susceptibility to disease, but also chemical modifications to that sequence. Despite the importance of these chemical modifications in the development of disease, there has been no comprehensive survey of the extent which they are transmitted across generations in humans. This proposal will investigate how one of those modifications, DNA methylation, is inherited.