The term epigenetics was first used by Conrad Waddington in 1942 to describe how, through the process of development, a genotype produces a phenotype. In coining the term, Waddington combined the words epigenesis, the development of an embryo, with genetics, the study of genes and heredity. Waddington’s goal was to encourage the merging of genetics and development. However, his use of the term preceded our modern understanding of DNA and chromosome structure, and today, epigenetics has taken on a narrower meaning.
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