SÅAWOMIRA f Polish. Polish feminine form of SÅAWOMIR. SLOAN f English (Rare). Variant of SLOANE. SLOANE f English (Rare). From an Irish surname which was derived from an Anglicized form of the given name SLUAGHADHAN. SLUAGHADHÃ¡N slobodan M, Serbian, Macedonian. Croatian From South slavic sloboda meaning. freedomreek form of SOPHRONIUS. SOPHRONIUS m Late Greek (Latinized). Latinized form of the Greek name ÏÏÏÏÎ¿Î½Î¹Î¿Ï (Sophronios) , which was derived from Greek ÏÏÏÏÏÎ½ (sophron) self-controlled, sensible ... [more]. SOPHUS m Ancient Greek (Latinized). From the Greek name ÏÎ¿ÏÎ¿Ï (Sophos) which meant skilled, clever.
But a burgeoning field known as epigenetics is showing that many cancers may not be caused by mutations in genes, but by chemical modifications that alter how the genes function. Such modifications to genes are epigenetic-literally on top of or related to changes in the DNA sequence.
Epigenetics is an emerging science focused on how and when particular genes are turned on or off. Diet and exposure to chemicals in the environment, among other factors, can alter a cell's DNA in ways that affect the activity of genes. That can make people more or less susceptible to developing a disease.n other diseases, a genetic variant may occur. A single gene can have many variants. Sometimes, this difference in a gene can cause a disease directly. More often, a variant plays a role in increasing or decreasing a person's risk of developing a disease or condition.