In chemistry and biology, to remove acetyl groups (CH₃CO-) from a molecule, especially from proteins like histones.
From de- (remove) + acetyl (acetic acid radical) + -ate (verb suffix). A technical term created in 20th-century biochemistry.
Deacetylating histone proteins is how cells turn genes on and off—without this chemical switch, your genes would be frozen and you couldn't respond to anything.
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