Imprinted genes, in contrast to the majority of mammalian genes, are able to restrict expression to one of the two parental alleles in somatic diploid cells. Although the silent allele of an imprinted gene appears to be transcriptionally repressed, it often bears little other resemblance to normal genes in an inactive state. The key to the imprinting mechanism may be a form of parental‐specific expression‐competition between cis‐linked genes and not parental‐specific expression versus repression. Thus, the imprinting mechanism may be better understood if the chromosomal region containing imprinted genes is viewed as ‘active’on both parental chromosomes.