Epigenetics: definition, molecular bases and implications in human health and evolution

Epigenetics refers to inheritable changes in DNA and histones that do not involve changes in thesequence of nucleotides and that modifies structure and chromatin condensation, thus affectinggene expression and phenotype. Epigenetic modifications are DNA methylation and histone modifications. Objective: A review of the literature on the concept of Epigenetics and its impacton health. Materials and methods: A review of the literature was performed on the concept ofepigenetics, its biological basis, the impact on health and disease and its relation to evolution.Results: Epigenetic mechanisms have become increasingly important because of the growingassociation with common complex diseases as well as its impact on health of future generationsand in human evolution. Conclusions: Epigenetics has a clear impact on the health of individualsin their offspring and with the evolution of the human species