Beyond DNA
On a day when Harvard celebrated the accomplishments of the Human Genome Project, the Radcliffe Institute hosted a scientist whose work focuses not just on DNA, but on the mechanisms that control its expression. In this latest talk (Feb. 22) in the institute’s Dean’s Lecture Series, C. David Allis, the Joy and Jack Fishman Professor at The Rockefeller University, explained that there are important factors in development that go beyond the DNA “blueprint.” For example, why is it that only one in a pair of genetically equal identical twins can develop autism? The lecture, titled “Beyond the Double Helix: Varying the ‘Histone Code,’” focused on Allis’ contributions to the field of epigenetics (literally “above” or “in addition to” genetics). His work centers on histones — proteins known for their function in packaging and ordering DNA, thereby making up the structural component of chromatin. However, histones also play a large role in gene...