Problem
An alien lifeform has crash-landed in your backyard. Though alive, it appears to be in a state of suspended animation. You run some experiments and find extremely low genome-wide transcription levels. But, you find high levels of two proteins, X and Y, that have identical structures to HDAC Rpd3 and Dnmt3a, respectively. Why are its transcription levels so low? What do you suppose proteins X and Y do? What would you put in a re-animation serum to revive our alien friend? Your answer must properly use the following terms in bold to earn full credit: histone acetyltransferase, histone deacetylase, epigenetic, methylation.