Inside the nuclei of cells from all living things, each of those tightly coiled, very long DNA strands contain a set of instructions to build that organism. The first step to better understanding epigenetics, Sen said, is understanding the intricate way long strands of DNA are packaged inside our cells. Her lab is currently focused on whether liver tissue and cells can be restored to a younger state to heal the damage from aging, disease, or injury. Payel Sen, Ph.D., a Stadtman investigator with the NIA Intramural Research Program, leads a team using epigenetic techniques to study the repair of aging or damaged cells. Environmental factors such as stress and trauma or even neighborhoods or zip codes may also have an impact.Īs part of NIA’s work to increase health span - the part of a person’s life during which he or she is generally in good health - several NIA-funded researchers are accelerating understanding of these epigenetic markers and mechanisms of aging. Different lifestyle and behavioral factors such as diet, sleep, exercise, smoking, and drinking alcohol can also affect the composition and location of the chemical groups that bind to our DNA. Genes are made of a chemical called DNA.Įpigenetic changes are vital to normal biological functioning and can affect natural cycles of cellular death, renewal, and senescence. This area of research involves the study of how our behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way our genes work. The word “epigenetics” is derived from the Greek word “epi”, meaning “over” or “above,” and in this case, over or above the genome.

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