Epigenomics: From Chromatin Biology to Therapeutics.

Epigenetics is the study of changes in DNA activity or function that are not due to any change of DNA sequence, such as changes in DNA methylation state or histone modifications, and can be propagated from one generation of cells to the next. The recent publication of ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) by the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute in September 2012 demonstrates how the fields of genomics and epigenomics have grown in the years since the Human Genome Project (2003), and the results produced by the consortium has brought the study of gene regulation to the front pages of Nature, Genome Research, and Genome Biology. In recent years, the once underrated field of epigenomics has assumed a major role in early detection and treatment of cancers, neurological diseases, and more. Although Epigenomics: From Chromatin Biology to Therapeutics was written before the publication of the ENCODE catalog, it will prove to be an important text in outlining the many ways that the growing study of epigenomics can influence current research in biology and biochemistry, as well as provide insight for future diagnostics and treatments for common diseases. This textbook is nicely divided into six sections composed of four to six chapters, each written by different authors currently studying the various aspects of epigenetic gene regulation. The book begins with a nice overview of the basics of chromatin biology and the biochemistry involved in modifying DNA sequences and then quickly progresses to specific research areas such as epigenetic silencing factors, non-coding RNAs and miRNAs, nucleosome positioning, zygotic demethylation, epigenetic changes in hESCs and hPSCs, and cell replication regulation. These chapters are followed by a section devoted to assays and new sequencing technology currently being used to study epigenetic modifications, such as ChIP-DSL, pyrosequencing, Illumina BeadArray technology, and 3D quantitative DNA methylation imagine (3D-qDMI). Some of the most interesting chapters in the book were in the last three sections, which cover epigenomics in disease biology and give intriguing perspectives on clinincal applications of the current research. Particularly interesting were the chapters in Part 5, on epigenetic changes involved in the development of neurological diseases such as autism, epilepsy, and psychosis. Although the book covers an expansive spectrum of highly interesting topics, it lacks a comprehensive flow. Since a different author, or set of authors, writes each chapter, many chapters repeat basic information and the chapters are written in varied styles. Some chapters read like research papers (Chapters 8 and 21), while others serve to speculate and hypothsize, similar to a Perspectives piece. Many of the figures found in the text are unsupportive or seem out of place (Chapter 7), but certain figures nicely demonstrate mechanisms of modifications or complicated laboratory techniques used to study epigenomic changes (Chapter 15). All figures are in the text in black and white, but can also be found in color on additional central pages. Each chapter in the text is extremely well referenced for those who want to delve deeper into a specific topic. This text provides an overall comprehensive study of the current epigenomic research, and it is clear that the upcoming years will be exciting for the field as there are many unanswered questions and hypotheses. The implications for biologists and biochemists alike are vast, and any researcher would be able to learn something significant from this book. The clinical fields of cancer and disease diagnostics may be revolutionized by epigenetic analysis, and it will be of particular interest to look out for disease treatments targeting abnormal epigenetic modifications, especially in certain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.