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The term epigenome refers to chemical modifications of DNA and proteins that control the structure and regulation of the "genome," referring to all the DNA within our cells. In contrast to the genome, which changes very little, if at all, over the course of an individual's life, the epigenome is dynamic and changes during normal development, aging, disease challenges, and in response to various external stimuli. Understanding the epigenome and how it works in different cell types is critically important to understanding many aspects of human health and disease.

This platform is a follow-on investment to the previously supported the ‘Centre for Epigenome Mapping Technologies (CEMT)’ within Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre. Through the previous platform, Drs. Hirst, Marra and Jones have created a team of scientific, technical and project management staff to develop and operate an epigenome mapping pipeline using the Illumina massively parallel sequencing platform and state-of-the-art bioinformatics infrastructure. This follow-on investment has enabled broader availability of CEMT’s expertise and capabilities to Canadian researchers through the CEEHRC network and has resulted in the generation of 209 complete and 43 partial IHEC reference epigenomes (252 total) from normal and diseased human tissues. The data has been made publicly available, and the team will continue to collaborate with clinician scientists to examine the prognostic value of epigenetic signatures in cancer treatment.