Drugging the epigenome
Drugs that change how your genes are switched on or off could change how we treat many diseases, as Rachel Brazil discovers
Drug discovery is catching up with epigenetics. The chemical modifications of the genome that do not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence provide a genetic control system which is now understood to be at the root of many cancers, neurodegenerative and immune disorders. Chemists are now in hot pursuit of epigenetic targets and drug molecules. A new generation of these drugs is on the way and it looks like they will be able to treat a wide spectrum of diseases using a variety of inventive strategies.