Andrew Feinberg

I did the first experiments showing altered DNA methylation in cancer. I showed that epigenetic changes (chemical changes other than DNA sequence per se) cause cancer are not simply consequential to it through my studies of the disorder Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. Later I had the first NIH funded epigenome center. More recently I have developed the idea the genetic variants can control epigenetic stochasticity (plasticity) and phenotype (traits) under evolutionary selection in natural populations, or within an individual in the development of cancer.