Epigenetics in the BBC News
A nice write-up in the BBC News explaining epigenetics and how it might be partially responsible for chronic lifestyle diseases such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
It wasn’t until the 1990’s that epigenetic processes, biochemical and structural changes to DNA that controlled whether genes are ‘on or off’, were recognised as important in regulating how genes are expressed.
It explains why even identical twins have many differences by the time they are adults, because even though they have the same genes, changes in epigenetic controls over time in response to environmental factors, alter how those genes are expressed.
For more on epigenetics, see my previous posts:
- Mother’s Diet Influences Gene Function in Offspring
- Mothers’ Vitamin Intake Affects Gene Function in Offspring
Technorati Tags: epigenetics, genetics, genes, dna, disease, health, bbc
Some scientists believe that nutrition, cancer, in vitro fertilization even autism may be among the arenas where epigenetics plays a role.Researchers have known for years that, despite their common genes, identical twins can have very different physical constitutions and develop different diseases.
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kesha