Future prospects of transcriptomics

This chapter first presents a brief description of the regulatory mechanisms involving gene expression, recalling concepts about histones, methylation, acetylation, and noncoding RNA (ncRNAs). Subsequently, knowledge about the role of the transcriptome in health and when its alterations lead to human diseases, such as cancer and obesity, is discussed. Finally, a very recent approach to the chemical modifications that RNA undergoes is presented, and the role of these modifications in mRNA behavior, gene expression, and higher-order biological processes led to the emergence of the field of RNA epigenetics or “epitranscriptomics.” Overall, this chapter shows some future perspectives on the role of the transcriptome in human health.