The biochemical process of removing methyl groups from molecules, especially DNA, affecting gene expression without changing the genetic code itself.
From demethylate + -tion (forming nouns of action/result). As methylation became central to understanding epigenetics in the 1990s-2000s, demethylation became essential scientific vocabulary.
Demethylation blew open the study of genes—it revealed that DNA isn't just a static instruction manual; it's a book you can open and close without rewriting a single word, fundamentally changing how we understand inheritance and disease.
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