Summary of the science
Epigenetics studies how and why cells switch genes on and off. Cells require information to function properly - it is stored in their DNA or genetic material. Specific sections of DNA (genes) encode for specific proteins. The addition of epigenetic 'marks' to the DNA affects how the genetic information is read, which may lead to changes and modifications in the resulting protein. Sometimes genes are switched on or off for a long time, which is called epigenetic memory as it helps cells remember events that happened a long time ago. These memories are passed to daughter cells when the cell divides, which means they often outlive the original cell. Therefore, these changes are thought to be maintained over many generations, but the Madhani Lab found that these can be maintained over much longer time periods, at the scale of millions of years.
About the research
The Madhani Lab studies the regulation of chromatin in the fungal species Cryptococcus neoformans. More specifically, they investigate how epigenetic modifications may be formed de novo and maintained stably. In C. neoformans, they have established that methylation marks can be maintained over millions of years within a species, without de novo methylation.
About the illustration
We wanted to make the scale of time the focal point of the illustration and so we decided to use rock strata as the main theme as it is quite iconic imagery associated with geological eras. We chose to represent epigenetic memory simply, via a DNA sequence marked with coloured spots so that it doesn't detract from this central topic.