Re: Are all human genes epigenetically 'imprinted'?

Hello Pilar,

Thanks for your excellent question.  Genomic imprinting results in the 
differential activation/suppression of alleles within an individual, 
depending on the parental origin of those alleles.  Only a small 
number of genes in mammals are regulated in this way, but the 
consequences when this regulation goes awry can be quite severe.  
The scenario you propose (producing a viable diploid organism by 
combining two female gametes) would probably be feasible IF we 
knew how to modify those imprinted genes, but at this point that’s a 
very big IF.  This is probably not so much a limitation of our current 
technology, but of our understanding of the mechanisms by which 
those genes are "marked" so that cells can differentiate between the 
maternal and paternal alleles.  At present, quite a few laboratories 
around the world are working to address these questions, but the 
genetics of development is staggeringly complicated, and it will 
probably be a while before we understand the process well enough 
to experimentally manipulate it with any success.  If you are 
interested in reading a bit more about ongoing research in this field, 
check out htt
p://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/bartolomei.html

I hope this information in helpful.  Please write again if I can be of 
further assistance.

Warm regards,

Jen