Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Epigenetics

Cellular memory erased in human embryos

Two analyses of human eggs, sperm and early-stage embryos reveal a pronounced loss of DNA methylation — a molecular modification that affects gene transcription — after fertilization. See Letters p.606 & p.611

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Tracking the state of DNA methylation.

References

  1. Guo, H. et al. Nature 511, 606–610 (2014).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Smith, Z. D. et al. Nature 511, 611–615 (2014).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Smallwood, S. A. et al. Nature Genet. 43, 811–814 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kobayashi, H. et al. PLoS Genet. 8, e1002440 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Smith, Z. D. et al. Nature 484, 339–344 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Lee, H. J., Hore, T. A. & Reik, W. Cell Stem Cell 14, 710–719 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Mayer, W., Niveleau, A., Walter, J., Fundele, R. & Haaf, T. Nature 403, 501–502 (2000).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Santos, F., Hendrich, B., Reik, W. & Dean, W. Dev. Biol. 241, 172–182 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Dean, W. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 98, 13734–13738 (2001).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Fulka, H., Mrazek, M., Tepla, O. & Fulka, J. Jr Reproduction 128, 703–708 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Iqbal, K., Jin, S.-G., Pfeifer, G. P. & Szabó, P. E. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 3642–3647 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Wossidlo, M. et al. Nature Commun. 2, 241 (2011).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Gu, T.-P. et al. Nature 477, 606–610 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Proudhon, C. et al. Mol. Cell 47, 909–920 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Court, F. et al. Genome Res. 24, 554–569 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Reik, W., Kelsey, G. Cellular memory erased in human embryos. Nature 511, 540–541 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13648

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13648

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research