Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Epigenetic mechanisms, including chromatin accessibility and DNA methylation, can impact gene expression
and inform developmental and disease phenotypes, however, their effects can be difficult to extract from
environmental impacts on phenotype. Human IPSCs present an interesting opportunity to study how much of
epigenetic variation can be attributed to genetic differences in development and differentiated cell types,
because the environment is completely controlled in-vitro. In this proposed project, I will use genomic and
epigenomic data from several iPSCs derived from two related individuals as well as one unrelated iPSC line to
provide support that epigenetic variation in iPSCs is linked to genetic variation independent of environmental
factors.