The past decade has seen an explosion of interest for understanding epigenetic mechanisms. This is not surprising since it has been obvious that we need this knowledge to understand basic biology, such as cellular differentiation, stem cell maintenance, and pathological phenotype, etiology, and therapy responses. It is also evident that the constant exposure to the environment affects our functional genomes through epigenetic mechanisms. This short review will bring up general principles of epigenetic mechanisms as well as how viral infections, which constantly affect our physiology, can interphase with these in order to evade host defense and promote their own multiplication and/or latency.
© 2012 New York Academy of Sciences.