Why Your DNA might Not Be Your Destiny

A decade ago, when researchers finished the 1st map of all the genes of human beings, it do, but something was still missing.
By sequencing the 3 billion chemical bottom pairs that make up human DNA, scientists were able to glean new details about genes and how they are expressed. Yet there have been hints that another thing might be controlling which genes are fired up and off, said Jean-Pierre Issa, director of the Fels Institute for Cancer Analysis and professor of molecular biology at Temple University in Philadelphia.
"When the human genome was sequenced, some researchers were telling, 'That's the end. We will understand every disease. We will understand every behavior.'" Issa said. "And it turns out, we didn't, since the sequence of the DNA isn't enough to explain behavior. It isn't enough to explain diseases."
In the 1950s,
Scientists who have advanced Waddington's hypothesis began investigating whether experiences or someone's environment could result in genetic changes. This ongoing work came to be known as epigenetics, and it recommended that human development had not been hardwired in DNA completely.
"When you think of nurture and nature, what epigenetics represents may be the user interface between those two influences," said Frances Champagne, a behavioral scientist in Columbia University in New York.
" Which is part of New York's annual Globe Science Festival.
Researchers have discovered that environmental factors - such as trauma, stress and diet - can activate epigenetic adjustments even.
Although genes are mostly hardwired right now an egg is fertilized by a sperm, epigenetics suggests that DNA may be more susceptible to change than was previously thought.
"Most of the program is set; however, the program isn't completely accurate or efficient," Issa said. "There's a small amount of wobbliness, and that's where in fact the environment can are likely involved."
Long-lasting effects
Furthermore, said Randy Jirtle,
For example, called cortisol, with their babies.
Other studies investigated the true ways abuse, famine and trauma could leave "scars" about DNA, in the kind of epigenetic markers.
Jirtle has conducted analysis on mice to examine how the epigenome is suffering from changes in diet. In one study, Jirtle found that mice whose moms were fed meals with fewer vitamins were more vunerable to obesity and additional diseases, suggesting nutrition changes might have generational impacts.
"These were research in mice, but there's reason to trust it happens in human beings, too," Jirtle said.
Despite the fact that epigenetics is a burgeoning field of research and there are still many unknowns, the implications for medical research are enormous, Issa said. His own work focuses on how understanding epigenetics can result in better treatments for malignancy.

If the method functions, offer a better option to chemotherapy and, one day perhaps, even cure cancer, Issa said.
one in which biology now must be viewed through the lens of both genomics and epigenetics, the scientists said.
"Genes are not strictly our destiny," Issa said. "Taking care of our epigenome may lead to longer, healthier lives."