Discussion on Epigenetics

Epigenetics
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Epigenetics
Epigenetics involves the study of changes in gene expression caused by changes in the chromosome. In contrast, genetics involves the study of changes in the gene expression caused by changes in the DNA sequence (Al Aboud et al., 2021). Epigenetic changes are reversible, while genetic changes are not. In epigenetic mechanisms, the DNA sequence is not altered, although there can be chemical modifications of the DNA. This interferes with how the body reads a DNA sequence. According to Al Aboud et al. (2021), epigenetic changes are influenced by the environment. They can also be influenced by lifestyle choices such as smoking and alcohol consumption.
The principles of epigenetics can be useful in decision-making to provide individualized patient care based on a patient’s epigenetic data. According to Crisp et al. (2021), nurses can use epigenetics to understand how environmental and lifestyle factors affect how genes are expressed or not expressed. Based on such information, it becomes possible...