Epigenetics

What is epigenetics? Epigenetics is the “study of heritablechanges in gene expression that does not involve changes to the underlying DNAsequence a change in the phenotype without a change in the genotype which inturn affects how cells read the genes.” Essentially epigenetics has the ability of controlling genes and switching them on and off. What this means is that, over time genes change and therefore what my grandparents did when they were my age shows a direct relation to the effects on how my genes have been mutated. We are comprised of cells, DNA and thousands of genes. With that being said DNA has four main bases which are adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine which help determine our DNA sequence.  What is interesting about epigenetics is that there are multiple factors influencing change. Therefore, it is important to be aware that what individuals are doing now may have a direct impact on them or their family members in the future.  A few factors that can have an effect on the changes in epigenetics are age, lifestyle and diet, the environment one lives in and also ones medical family history. For example, my grandmother grew up during the great depression and what she was doing and exposed to during that time could have impacted me or may impact my future children.

Changes in epigenetics are linked to many things that individuals are exposed to on a daily basis, this could be pesticides on the produce that someone is purchasing, being exposed to exhaust and individuals who smoke to name a few. It is essential to be mindful to what we are consuming and doing to our bodies now because it will have an impact on our future children and grandchildren. Furthermore, epigenetic changes are strongly correlated to causing diseases due to the detrimental effects that can be caused by the rate of exposure to something and can trigger change.  One of the most widely researched diseases linked to epigenetic changes is cancer.  Cancer is developed when there is a continuous division of cells in a certain area.

How has it changed our current understanding of genetics? Epigenetics have been a turning point in our understanding of heredity. Now that people are aware that they personally could have a direct impact on their future generations people are becoming more aware of what they are consuming. However, although we can be mindful we cannot change everything, for example our environment. No matter where one resides we are always being exposed to different, possibly harmful substances in our environment.  “While genes never change, the epigenome can.” The epigenome tells the genome what to do. Genomes are inherited and passed on from parents to their offspring, and in some circumstances epigenomes can be also passed on to the next generation. It was said to believe that “a newembryo's epigenome was completely erased and rebuilt from scratch.” However, that is not the

case, our genetic buildup is passed on from one generation to another.  Epigenomes do have the ability to change and this can be done by a person’s lifestyle and environment. As mentioned before factors such as diet and habits like smoking can contribute to exposures to chemical responses and therefore, can lead to change within the epigenome. Gene expression can show diseases that individuals have faced in the past that have the potential of being passed on.

CLEARLY MY DIET IS NOT WHAT IT SHOULD BE...

How old is the science? Conrad Waddington coined the term epigenetics in the 1940’s. However, epigenetics has come a long way since first examined in the 40’s. Researchers today have discovered a whole new realm of what epigenetics are, their capabilities and the impact that they have on generations of people.