An ambitious EC-funded research initiative on epigenetics advancing towards systems biology

Serine is one of the building blocks of protein that can be modified by the addition of a chemical tag, in this case, a phosphate group.

A cellular process that suppresses gene expression, in other words, turning the gene “off”.

Small-interfering RNAs (involved in RNA intereference). A process that both naturally occurs in cells and is being used as a technology to switch certain genes off.

Short RNA that can in some cases regulate gene expression and/or repeat elements.

(SCNT) A technique for cloning, whereby an unfertilized egg has its nucleus replaced with another (from a somatic (body) cell), and is then grown in culture or used to create an embryo (see also therapeutic cloning).

Primal undifferentiated cells which retain the ability to differentiate into other cell types.

Process of injecting stem cells into an organism in the hope that they will differentiate and replace damaged tissue.

the study of systems of biological components. Since living systems are dynamic and complex, their behavior can be hard to predict from the properties of their individual parts. Therefore researchers use methods like making quantitative measurements of the behavior of groups of interacting components using systematic measurement technologies such as genomics, bioinformatics, and proteomics, and implement mathematical and computational models to describe and predict dynamical behavior. Adapted from the Harvard Systems Biology website: