Human Epigenome Project—Up and Running

PLoS Biology | http://biology.plosjournals.org Epigenomics is one of the many ‘omics’ that is being talked about in the wake of the Human Genome Project. But what is an epigenome, and why have the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (Hinxton, United Kingdom) and Epigenomics AG (Berlin, Germany) recently announced the launch of the Human Epigenome Project (HEP), a five-year undertaking during which DNA methylation sites throughout the human genome will be mapped? The HEP is the brainchild of immunogeneticist Stephan Beck of the Sanger Institute and Alexander Olek, chief executive officer of Epigenomics AG. The Human Genome Project, explains Olek, ‘provided the blueprint for life, but the epigenome will tell us how this whole thing gets executed’, what determines when and where genes are switched on and off to produce a person. And knowing more about the human epigenome may provide clues to what goes wrong in cancer and other diseases.