Traditional studies on the combined effects of genetics and the environment on individual
variation in disease susceptibility primarily focus on single nucleotide polymorphisms that
influence toxicant uptake and metabolism. A growing body of evidence, however, suggests
that epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation, such as DNA methylation and chromatin
modification, are also influenced by the environment, and play an important role in the fetal
basis of adult disease susceptibility. Studying the influence of early environmental …