About
Epigenetics studies changes in gene expression that don't involve changes to the DNA sequence itself — modifications to histones (DNA-packaging proteins) or methylation of DNA that switch genes on or off. These changes can be influenced by environment (diet, stress, toxins), can persist through cell divisions, and remarkably, some can be inherited across generations.
The Dutch Hunger Winter (1944–45) — a famine during Nazi occupation — showed that children and grandchildren of starving mothers had altered metabolisms and increased rates of obesity and diabetes. Vietnam veterans' PTSD appeared to affect their children's stress responses. These findings suggest that life experiences can alter heritable gene expression — a profound revision of our understanding of heredity.
# Top 10 epigenetic influences
- 1maternal diet during pregnancy
- 2early childhood stress
- 3tobacco smoke
- 4air pollution
- 5exercise
- 6meditation
- 7trauma inheritance
- 8aging
- 9identical twin divergence
- 10cancer development
Fascinating Facts
- ◆Children and grandchildren of Dutch famine victims showed altered metabolism — inherited epigenetic changes from their grandmothers' starvation
- ◆Identical twins become more epigenetically different as they age — explaining why they increasingly diverge in health and disease
- ◆Exercise changes the epigenome — physically active people have different gene expression patterns than sedentary people, even with identical DNA
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