DNA Methylation and Development

This sketch video about epigenetics was created by Armando Hasudungan, in collaboration with Professor Susan Clark and Dr Kate Patterson at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. It has been created for a broad, non-expert audience to highlight key messages about the role epigenetics plays in biological processes like development and diseases such as cancer.

Epigenetic patterns are established during embryonic development and maintained during cell division. Epigenetic patterns in each cell are exquisitely programmed but potentially can be altered by our environment. This video explains how the hypothesis of the developmental origins of health and disease proposes that not only are we what we eat but that we could also be what our parents and even our grandparents ate.