Biological embedding occurs when life experience alters biological processes to affect later life health and well-being. Although extensive correlative data exist supporting the notion that epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation underlie biological embedding, causal data are lacking. We describe specific epigenetic mechanisms and their potential roles in the biological embedding of experience. We also consider the nuanced relationships between the genome, the epigenome, and gene expression. Our ability to connect biological embedding to the epigenetic landscape in its complexity is challenging and complicated by the influence of multiple factors. These include cell type, age, the timing of experience, sex, and DNA sequence. Recent advances in molecular profiling and epigenome editing, combined with the use of comparative animal and human longitudinal studies, should enable this field to transition from correlative to causal analyses.

当生活经历改变生物过程以影响以后的生活健康和福祉时，就会发生生物嵌入。尽管存在大量相关数据支持 DNA 甲基化等表观遗传机制是生物嵌入的基础这一观点，但缺乏因果数据。我们描述了特定的表观遗传机制及其在经验的生物嵌入中的潜在作用。我们还考虑基因组、表观基因组和基因表达之间的微妙关系。由于多种因素的影响，我们将生物嵌入与复杂的表观遗传景观联系起来的能力具有挑战性和复杂性。其中包括细胞类型、年龄、经历时间、性别和 DNA 序列。分子分析和表观基因组编辑的最新进展，再加上比较动物和人类纵向研究的使用，应该使该领域能够从相关分析过渡到因果分析。