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Changing the epigenetic code of a single gene is enough to cause a healthy breast cell to begin a chain reaction and become abnormal, Epigenetic changes are a hallmark of cancer, but up until now, it has not been known whether these changes on their own are sufficient to push healthy cells down the cancer path.
Using a CRISPR-dCas9 epigenetic editing tool, the researchers methylated different genes in healthy breast cells and found that those changes were sufficient to cause the cells to undergo hyperproliferation – abnormally rapid cell division which is an early stage of tumour initiation.
The epigenetic changes are inherited as long as the cell divides, and that the team’s manipulations permanently and negatively affected the biology of a normal breast cell from a healthy individual. Epigenetic editing could also be used to design novel therapies by initiating permanent changes to cell biology.
This may be a more viable or alternative way forward for gene editing as any potential mistakes would be less damaging than directly editing the DNA sequence, and epigenetic editing would be more easily reversible if needed. Epigenetic fluctuations happen all the time in human cells. During ageing, human epigenome is progressively distorted.
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