Packing of the eukaryotic genome into chromatin poses an accessibility problem for the DNA repair machinery. Chromatin structure has to be changed for the repair to occur, and we are beginning to discover how different chromatin modifying mechanisms facilitate DNA repair in the chromatin context. On the other hand, the repair-related changes in chromatin should be transient, and a particular chromatin state should be able to survive the repair process. Defects in the proper maintenance of chromatin states after repair could be a factor in the aging process, as well as in other pathologies.