The core of the histones H2A and H2B can also be modified. Combinations of modifications are thought to constitute a code, the so-called histone code. Histone modifications act in diverse biological processes such as gene regulation, DNA repair, chromosome condensation (mitosis) and spermatogenesis (meiosis).
Bread and Circuses. Bread and circuses became the method that the ruling class of ancient Rome used to maintain their power and control of the people. This method kept their sheep fat and happy, even as they fleeced them and sent them off to plunder the free world.
The title, Bread and Circuses, comes from a line by the Roman satirist Juvenal, and refers to the practice in ancient Rome of providing a regular free bread (or grain) dole to the lower classes and free entertainment in the city's arenas and circuses, both of which had the effect of preventing civil unrest in the populace.