Hormones can change the breast's genetic material, study finds
Friday, February 1, 2013 - 05:01
in Biology & Nature
Scientists in Australia have discovered how female steroid hormones can make dramatic changes to the genetic material in breast cells, changes that could potentially lead to breast cancer. Researchers have identified how pregnancy hormones send signals to critical molecules on the DNA to make changes in the epigenome. The epigenome is a series of chemical tags that modify DNA, controlling which genes are switched on and off.