By Ahmed S. Sultan, Ph.D., Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt and Nadia M. Hamdy, Ph.D., Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Understanding epigenetics in the COVID-19 era is like looking at a jigsaw puzzle. The first piece to discuss is the environment. Changes, brought about by external and environmental factors, which alter a genes behavior and/or output, without altering its underlying DNA code are epigenetic in nature, and regulate our phenotypes. Meaning these are changes in working pathways that do not arise exclusively from the DNA sequence itself. Multiple External Environmental Factors are usually at play. This includes complex psychological, environmental, and social factors such as body chemistry, family background, and social influence. It also encompasses lifestyle factors such as weight, eating habits, nutrition, life experience, previous exposures, concomitant diseases, and vaccination.