Epigenetics
Epigenetics is a relatively new field which examines the effect of events outside our inherited DNA code on how our genes control our life and health (gene expression.)
"epigenetics has transformed the way we think about genomes"
The April 5, 2018 New England Journal of Medicine has a long article on this subject which includes information about epigenetics and inflammation and epigenetics and the microbiome, subjects of my most recent blogs.
The Key Role of Epigenetics in Human Disease Prevention and Mitigation
- Andrew P. Feinberg, M.D., M.P.H.
The
epigenome consists of nuclear information, heritable during cell division, that controls development, tissue differentiation, and cellular responsiveness. Epigenetic information is controlled by genome sequence, environmental exposure, and
stochasticity, or random chance. As such, epigenetics stands at the interface of the genome, development, and environmental exposure.
All cells of the body have essentially the same DNA, yet different organs and tissues serve vastly different functions and also retain their identity as their cells divide. This cellular identity is epigenetic information, or information that is added onto the genes themselves.
Feinberg goes on to say: "The use of sequencing alone to assess disease risk is even more limited because sequencing studies cannot easily capture the role of the environment, which is thought to account for 80% of disease risk in humans. For example, a Western diet is the leading cause of type 2 diabetes and a major cause of cancer." He could add auto-immune disease, vascular disease and dementia. Our diet controls most of our health events. Inherited genetic pattern is much less important.
