If we imagine that most of us think of our genetics as the smallest and darkest aspect of our being, then epigenetics is an even smaller part of the genetics that makes or breaks us. I imagine epigenetics as the particles that make up an atom. Let's imagine atoms as the smallest possible particle, the one that makes up all matter, living or dead. Yet, inside atoms there are even smaller particles: protons, neutrons and electrons. While these particles make it no more or less of an atom, they change the fundamental functioning of an atom, having control over whether it is stable or not. The PBS video titled Epigenetics (2007) tells us that epigenetics can be methylation patterns, which they refer to as the second genome or epigenome. Randy Jirtle of Duke University Medical Center compares genetics and epigenetics to computer hardware and software. Hardware is compared to genetics, or the genome itself, and software is compared to epigenetics, or the epigenome. The narrator, Neil Degrasse Tyson, explains that although all our cells contain the same DNA, epigenomes tell cells which organ cell to develop into. Furthermore, he points out that DNA can change at critical moments in our lives (Holt). The definition of an epigenetic trait is “a stably heritable phenotype resulting from changes in a chromosome without alterations in the DNA sequence. (Berger, Kouzarides, Sheikhattar, & Shilatifard, 2009)” The PBS video Epigenetics (2007) also shows another study conducted on identical twins, two humans born from the same fertilized egg who have the same DNA. The study aimed to understand why twins can have identical DNA and yet experience differences in the growth and development of their bodies. (2009). A working definition of epigenetics. Genes and development, 781-783. Retrieved from http://genesdev.cshlp.org/content/23/7/781.longHeijmans, B.T., Tobi, E.W., Stein, A.D., Putter, H., Blauw, G.J., Susser, E.S., . . . Lumeye, L. H. (2008). Persistent epigenetic differences associated with prenatal famine exposure in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 17046-17049. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.db16.linccweb.org/stable/10.2307/25465222?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=epigenetics&searchText=human&searchText=research&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Depigenetics%2Bhuman%2Bresearch%2 6amp %3Bacc%3Don%26amp%Holt, S. (Producer). (n.d.). Epigenetics [movie]. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/epigenetics.html