The June 2025 issue of the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (YJBM) has been published on PubMed Central. This focus issue features articles on epigenetics, an emerging field of study on the changes in gene expression that occur without altering DNA sequences.
Highlights of the issue include an original contribution by Watkins et al. (University of Bristol, Bristol, UK) on the summary of results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children Cohort and the possibility that ancestral tobacco smoking has epigenetic causes in obesity in current generations.
Next, the issue presents another original contribution by Núñez-Ríos et al. (Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; National Center of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, VA CT Healthcare, West Haven, CT) on the relationship between adverse childhood experiences, a critical environmental factor that can affect an individual’s susceptibility to psychiatric disorders, and differential gene expression.
Another original contribution by Mozhui et al. (University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Rhodes College, Memphis, TN; The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia) tracks the epigenetic biomarkers of health and aging during the initial year of gender-affirming hormone therapy.
A brief communication by Acharya and Zannas (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC) explores environmental epigenetic disease biomarkers in breast cancer and chronic stress. Findings provide insight into the molecular links that trigger cancer malignancy.
Lastly, a review by Servian et al. (St. Matthews University School of Medicine, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) highlights new research in epigenetic biomarkers in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Deputy Editors of this issue: Reem Abu-Shamma (Department of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine) and Andriana Marijic Buljubasic (Yale School of Public Health); Editors-in-Chief: Charlotte Godfrey (Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University) and Aden Alemayhu (Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University); Managing Editor, Hayley Serpa (Program in the History of Science and Medicine, Yale University)