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Our genes are what make us the way we are, the color of our eyes, our hair and all the other physical characteristics. What if I tell you that genes alone don't create all the differences we see in Human beings?
Well, it's true!
Have you ever heard of epigenetics?
Epigenetics is the study of how the environment and human behaviours can cause changes in the way our genes work without changing the genes themselves.
This term was first introduced in 1942 by Conrad Waddington a British developmental biologist, paleontologist, geneticist, embryologist, and philosopher.
Conrad Waddington
Definition of epigenetics:
Collective heritable changes in phenotype due to processes that arise independently of the primary DNA sequence.
While epigenetic alterations are reversible and do not alter your DNA sequence as genetic changes do, they can alter how your body interprets a DNA sequence.
Imagine for example:
Illustration by Jude Buffum
The adverse epigenetic configuration brought on by smoking might theoretically be passed on by a grandma who smokes, modifying her own epigenome in the process. According to research, if smoking causes heritable aberrant hormone elevations that signal hunger, this could result in obesity in her granddaughter.
But what is these so-called epigenetic changes and mechanisms?
DNA methylation
Histone modifications
ncRNAs (non-coding RNAs)
Nucleosome remodeling
This mechanism results in chromatin condensation or (not) having an impact on the gene expression. Transcription is on or off depending on the mechanism.
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References
CDC. (2022, May 18). What is Epigenetics? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/disease/epigenetics.htm#:~:text=Epigenetics%20is%20the%20study%20of,body%20reads%20a%20DNA%20sequence.
Is Epigenetics Inherited. (2017, April 6). Is Epigenetics Inherited? Harvard Magazine. https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2017/05/is-epigenetics-inherited
Role of DNA methylation in Disease | labclinics.com. Labclinics.com. https://www.labclinics.com/2018/11/08/role-dna-methylation-disease/?lang=en
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