This past week, the Hopkins Epigenetic Center was one of four recipients of a $45 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to advance the field of genomic research. The Hopkins Epigenetic Center received $16.8 million of this grant to be given over a span of five years.
"We are very excited to receive this grant," said Andrew Feinberg, the director of the Epigenetic Center at Hopkins. "We're grateful for such generous support to continue our work in understanding how epigenetic control affects disease.
Epigenetics is a rapidly emerging field in molecular biology that deals with changes in gene expression other than changes in the DNA sequence itself. These epigenetic changes affect which genes are turned on or off, therefore controlling which proteins are produced in cells.
"If the genetic code is written in ink with pen, then the epigenetic code is written in pencil, and thus, can be erased," said James Potash, a member of the Epigenetics Center who focuses on psychiatric illness.
Epigenetics adheres to the belief that science can control when genes get turned on and off, and this control is modifiable because gene expression is influenced by the environment as well as by the DNA sequence.
"Over the past five years, the Center of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS) [a branch of Hopkins's Epigenetic Center] has developed new genome-scale tools to explore the idea epigenetic variation may be at least as great between individuals as variations in the DNA sequences themselves," Feinberg said. "The premise of the CEGS is that understanding the epigenome may help explain how errors occur in normal development and how environmental factors lead to cancer, autism and other disorders."
The NIH seems to follow his reasoning, and their $45 million investment in epigenetic research may be the push the field needs to make a significant breakthrough. "The key to the success of the CEGS is the integrated collaborative approach involving professors across multiple departments and divisions of the University." The Hopkins Epigenetic Center has a major presence in the field of medicine, ranging from doctors and professors in biostatistics, epidemiology and psychiatry.
The Epigenetic Center has a multitude of ways to use their new grant. "One of the new approaches we are developing is second-generation sequencing for epigenetic measurement on an epidemiologic scale. We are also developing a new field we call Epigenetic Epidemiology, examining time-dependence, heritability and environmental relationship of epigenetic marks and the integration of novel genome-wide methylation scans," Feinberg said.
Feinberg also hopes that the new light on epigenetics will impact the community in a positive way. "The CEGS also had a strong commitment to increasing minority involvement in genetics and genome sciences and is recruiting gifted minority high school students to the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. There, these students will take Genetics and Genome Sciences and get hands-on laboratory experience during internships at the CEGS laboratories, and ultimately participate in the Minority Summer Internship Program for college students," Feinberg said. To date, 32 students have already passed through this very program and the CEGS is hoping for many more.
"The grant is meant to allow the epigenetic center to develop new methods such as second generation DNA sequencing to study DNA methylation," Potash said. He is optimistic that the NIH grant will push the envelope and continue to improve and refine epigenetics.
The Hopkins center hopes to increase the resolution at which they can view the epigenome. Describing this resolution can be likened to trying to catch a criminal. "Finding a culprit in the entire United States is much harder than finding him in a county, which is still much harder than finding him in a single house. This is because with each step, you have increased your resolution, and thus, made your task easier," Potash said. With this framework in mind, Potash hopes that the grant will open doors to allow the center to increase their resolution as well.
Epigenetics has yet to reach its full potential, and time will only tell what marvels it can uncover and what it can "erase" from our world.
