Short-term gene-expression 'memory' is inherited in proteins associated with DNA, new research finds

(Phys.org) —By studying a gene in yeast, a team of scientists has found that modifications to histones—proteins associated with DNA—can control whether or not a gene is allowed to function and may be important in maintaining the genes' "expression potential" so that future cells behave as their parent cells did. The research was led by Lu Bai, an assistant professor of biochemistry, molecular biology, and physics at Penn State University, in collaboration with David Stillman at the University of Utah. The discovery, which may have implications for the study of diseases such as cancer, will be published in a print edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.