An epigenetics primer

In family history we wonder how children from the same family can turn out so differently. Now science is developing an understanding of how the expression of genes can be modulated.

"Epigenetics is the most monumental explanation to emerge in the social and biological sciences since Darwin .."

"Scientists now hypothesize that epigenetic factors play a role in the etiology (cause) of many diseases, conditions and human variations—from cancers, to clinical depression and mental illnesses, to human behavioral and cultural variations."

Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist, writes this short explanation of epigenetics in response to the question "What is your favorite deep, elegant, or beautiful explanation?