[ggoss]

The well goes deeper still. Another mode of epigenetic regulation involves histones, the proteins around which DNA is wrapped, and the many ways they can be modified (by methylation, acetylation, ubiquitiylation, sumoylation, etc.). Both DNA methylation and histone modifications modulate how DNA wraps around histones, and thus how readily any given segment can be accessed and transcribed into RNA (and eventually translated into a given protein).

This barely scratches the surface. This process, along with others that modify how DNA is folded, brings certain genes closer together (while moving others farther apart), increasing (or decreasing) the likelihood of all sorts of first, second, and third order (...) interactions between them and their products.

And we've only just begun...

[Chris_Jay]

Epigenetics are fascinating. In my D&D headcanon, the reason Drow Elves are so obsessed with spiders is because they picture DNA as a three dimensional web whose spatial arrangement is central to gene expression.

[psychobabble]

> This well goes deeper still

> This barely scratches the surface. This process, along with others that modify how DNA is folded, brings certain genes closer together (while moving others farther apart), increasing (or decreasing) the likelihood of all sorts of first, second, and third order (...) interactions between them and their products.

> And we've only just begun...

Horribly vague, care to elaborate mathematically or at least provide some study links? The 'DNA folding' you propose begs resolution from some study using quaternions or attractors, or ... ?

[Sharlin]

I see your username is accurate.