Paternal Contribution

It surprises some to find out that their father’s habits can impact his children and grandchildren, as well. The ALSPAC study showed that males who started smoking before age 11 (just before entering puberty and before they were producing sperm) influenced the health of their sons. By age nine, their boys had significantly higher body mass indexes (BMI). This considerably increased their risk of obesity and other serious health issues including a shortened lifespan. Since none of us influences what our parents and grandparents do or even what happens during our own gestation and for the first few years of life, some may feel hopeless. Nothing could be further from the truth. The science of epigenetics is hopeful. Dawson Church, PhD, author of The Genie in Your Genes, points out that epigenetics potentially can revolutionize your own health through the lifestyle you choose to live and its impact on gene suppression and/or activation. Note: After this epigenome digression (I find it completely fascinating!), next week I’ll get back to another layer that impacts your genome—your microbiome.

Maternal Contribution

Scientists now understand that lifestyle choices are particularly important in terms of the impact to the fetus during gestation. A pregnant mother’s choices (e.g., smoking, drinking alcohol, eating habits and level of nutrition, exercise) can have a huge impact on her unborn child. Babies often like the foods their mother ate during pregnancy. The amount and type of stressors play a part, too. The children of pregnant women who saw the 9-11 World Trade catastrophe were found to have higher levels of cortisol. PTSD may even be transmitted from one generation to the next. According to Debra Bangasser, PhD, a child who experienced a stressful pregnancy may require higher levels of stress just to activate the release of cortisol. Waiting to do things until the very last minute may be indicative of this. For a female fetus, a stressful pregnancy (and/or a stressful first two years of life) can actually result in the female developing a more reactive brain and nervous system, which can increase her reactivity to stress over a lifetime. Paternal Contribution tomorrow.

Epigenetic Metaphor

This description by David Shenk may help you better understand the impact of epigenetics on genetics. Genes are not like robot actors who always say the same lines in the exact same way. It turns out that they interact with their surroundings and can say different things depending on whom they are talking to. This obliterates the long-standing metaphor of genes as blueprints with elaborate predesigned instructions for eye color, thumb size, mathematical quickness, musical sensitivity, etc. Now we can come up with a more accurate metaphor. Rather than finished blueprints, genes—all 22,000 of them—are more like volume knobs and switches. Think of a giant control board inside every cell of your body. Many of those knobs and switches can be turned up/down/on/off at any time—by another gene or by any miniscule environmental input. This flipping and turning takes place constantly. It begins a moment a child is conceived and doesn’t stop until she takes her last breath. Rather than giving us hardwired instructions on how a trait must be expressed, this process of gene-environment interaction drives a unique developmental path for every unique individual.

(Shenk, David. The Genius in All of Us. P 16. NY:Doubleday, 2010)

Epigenome

Your Epigenome involves the complex environment surrounding your genes as well as the cellular memories filed on protein strands in the nucleus of cells. Not all cells have a nucleus, red blood cells, for example, although most cells do. Bruce Lipton, PhD, is touted as the foremost authority on the link between your emotions and genetic expression. Metaphorically, Dr. Lipton compares the outer layer of the cell (epigene) to a computer chip: DNA represents your genetic hardware; epigenes represent your software. Epigenes convey information about environmental factors that influence both the behavior and the physiology of the cell. Because molecular pathways connect the mind and body, retraining your thinking can change your body. Thus, your thoughts, attitudes, and perceptions are the true keys to optimal wellness. These three additional layers, especially the epigenome, help to explain the reason that 6 billion plus people on this planet, who all differ, do so within a collection of 25,000-30,000 genes. Dr. Lipton’s research helps explain this. Your ‘environment’ includes everything from your attitudes, mindset, thought patterns, self-talk, beliefs, habits, and addictive behaviors. It involves whether or not you are living a Longevity Lifestyle and everything from what you eat and drink to your sleep and exercise patterns, and ad infinitum. 

Genome Plus Three

Your genome, 46 chromosomes and the 25,000-30,000 genes on them, was once thought primarily to be in charge of determining your development, including your height, skin hue, eye color, and on and on. In their book Evolving Ourselves, authors Juan Enriques and steve Gullans, PhD, describe three additional layers that have a profound impact on how your genes express themselves and how your brain and body develop and function. These layers are:

·         Epigenome: the complex array of matter surrounding your genes

·         Microbiome: the trillions of bacteria in your body

·         Virome: trillions of viruses that far outnumber both your body’s cells and microbes

The 1% of Your DNA

Researchers say that only 99% of DNA is contained within your chromosomes and the genes (letters spelling out words, phrases, and sentences). Where is the remaining 1%? Turns out it is in your mitochondria: tiny rod-shaped organelles—power generators (energy factories) inside the cell—that convert oxygen and nutrients into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This is the chemical energy "currency" of the cell that powers all its metabolic processes. If it stops working properly you are out of energy. Period. Unlike chromosomal DNA that is inherited from both parents, you get all your mitochondrial DNA from your mother. What happens when mitochondrial DNA mutates? More next time.

Secret DNA Language

Work by Dr. John Stamatoyannopoulos has discovered a secret language, if you will. About 15% of DNA’s 64-letter alphabet (codons) are dual-use codons (duons) that simultaneously specify both amino acids and transcription factor (TF) sequences. This means that many DNA changes that appear to alter protein sequences may actually cause disease by disrupting gene control programs or even both mechanisms simultaneously. For example, (e.g., sickle cell anemia can be caused by a change in one single gene). If you think of DNA as a language with 64 letters in its alphabet, it makes sense (metaphorically) that if one of the words is misspelled, the meaning to the phrase or sentence can be completely changed. Imagine you were writing a paper for school and instead of using the word ‘mine’ your used the word ‘mime.’ That ‘mistake’ could give an entirely different meaning to the gist of your paper and could result in the professor giving you a lower grade. More tomorrow.