Epigenetic changes are implicated in aging and cancer. Sometimes, it is clear whether the causing agent of the condition is a genetic factor or epigenetic. In other cases, the causative factor is unclear, and could be either genetic or epigenetic. Is there a general role for epigenetic changes in cancer and aging? Here, I present the paradigm of causative roles executed by epigenetic changes. I discuss cases with clear roles of the epigenome in cancer and aging, and other cases showing involvement of other factors. I also present the possibility that sometimes causality is difficult to assign because of the presence of self‐reinforcing loops in epigenetic regulation. Such loops hinder the identification of the causative factor. I provide an experimental framework by which the role of the epigenome can be examined in a better setting and where the presence of such loops could be investigated in more detail.

中文翻译：

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表观遗传学的因果关系——真相在哪里，实验如何揭示真相？

表观遗传变化与衰老和癌症有关。有时，很明显该病症的病因是遗传因素还是表观遗传。在其他情况下，致病因素尚不清楚，可能是遗传的或表观遗传的。表观遗传变化在癌症和衰老中是否有普遍作用？在这里，我介绍了由表观遗传变化执行的因果作用的范式。我讨论了表观基因组在癌症和衰老中具有明确作用的案例，以及其他显示涉及其他因素的案例。我还提出了有时因果关系难以确定的可能性，因为表观遗传调控中存在自我强化循环。这种循环阻碍了致病因素的识别。