Epigenetic phenomena, chromatin dynamics, and gene expression. New theoretical approaches in the study of living systems.

This paper is aimed at exploring the genome at the level beyond that of DNA sequence alone. We stress the fact that the level of genes is not the sole "reality" in the living world, for there are different epigenetic processes that profoundly affect change in living systems. Moreover, epigenetics very likely influences the course of evolution and the unfolding of life. We further attempt to investigate how the genome is dynamically organized into the nuclear space within the cell. We mainly focus on analyses of higher order nuclear architecture and the dynamic interactions of chromatin with other nuclear components. We especially want to know how epigenetic phenomena influences genes expression and chromosome functions. The proper understanding of these processes require new concepts and approaches be introduced and developed. In particular, we think that research in biology has to shift from only describing molecular and local features of living systems to studying the regulatory networks of interactions among gene pathways, the folding and dynamics of chromatin structure and how environmental factors affects the behavior of organisms. There are essential components of biological information on living organisms which cannot be portrayed in the DNA sequence alone. In a post-genomic era, the importance of chromatin/epigenetic interface has become increasingly apparent. One of the purposes of current research should be to highlight the enormous impact of chromatin organization and dynamics on epigenetic phenomena, and, conversely, to emphasize the important role that epigenetic phenomena play in gene expression and cell regulation.