News Genetics

DNA tags mostly deleted in human germ cells

The few epigenetic markers that escape erasure might pass on risk for some diseases

embryo

EARLY ERASER  Sometime in the first trimester, human embryos’ reproductive cells get wiped mostly clean of chemical tags marking the DNA.

Andrzej Zachwieja and Jan Walczewski/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

By Meghan Rosen

- More than 2 years ago

Mom and dad’s lifestyle may leave less of a mark on future generations than scientists have suspected.