Assessing epigenetic information

This chapter discusses the assessing epigenetic information. Epigenetics is currently one of the most rapidly developing areas of molecular biology. Remarkable technological progress has enabled genome-scale analysis of epigenetic mechanisms. The analysis of epigenetic data has challenged computational bioscience, and computational methods have already been involved in the analysis of epigenetic questions. Nucleotide sequence shows how the genetic program is read. Epigenetic information is encoded as chemical modifications of cytosine bases and histone proteins that assist genome condensation. These modifications regulate the way the genome is converted at different stages of cell growth in various tissues and morbidity conditions by influencing DNA availability via the structure of the chromatin. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a powerful tool used to study protein-DNA interaction and chromatin changes associated with gene expression. It can be used for the collection of epigenetic data that cover the entire genome. This technique enables enrichment of DNA fragments bound to specific proteins and the identification of the specific sequences of these fragments using microarrays that encompass the genome (tiling arrays) or next-generation DNA sequencing.