In chemistry and biology, to remove methyl groups (CH₃) from a molecule or compound.
From de- (remove) + methylate (to add a methyl group). Methylation is a key chemical process, so demethylation emerged as biochemists needed words for the reverse process.
Demethylation is absolutely crucial in gene regulation—by removing methyl tags from DNA, cells can 'unsilence' genes, making this tiny chemical edit one of the most powerful switches controlling which traits actually get expressed.
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