The first thing you may be wondering is, what is epigenetics, and to be honest I could go on and on because it’s such a complex subject. To explain it in its most basic form I would say it’s the study of outside effects on our genetics. You may not know this, but your genes are not set in stone when you are born. Take identical twins for example, even though they have the same genetic makeup, they can still be so different, but how? Well, depending on the environment, the nutrition and the people around them, they will develop certain habits which will translate into their genes. Another fun fact, since these habits can be written in genes, those genes can be passed down to their offspring. Therefore, if a mother has bad time management, it will most likely be somewhat passed down to her offspring.
There have been and will be many more advancements in the field of epigenetics. In my opinion, some of the greatest advancements so far have been discovering the role epigenetics have in exercising, inheritance, and how our nutrition can affect our epigenetics. Firstly, methyl groups, chemical tags attached to DNA strands, can prevent nearby genes from expressing what they are programmed to do. Exercising can reverse changes these chemical tags may make on DNA. Unfortunately, with this test, after three weeks of exercise, the methylation tags came back after two days of resting. Next, in a small Swedish town, genetic scientists analyzed 200 years of harvest records. They discovered that food availability and diet can affect how exact sperm cells are copied from the ages of nine to twelve in boys. Epigenetic inheritance can fluxgate through generations, unlike the genome, which takes many generations to change, epigenetics changes can happen quickly. The inheritance of epigenetics can also be passed down to children from things a parent has experienced, as well as changing from the current environment of an individual. Finally, scientists have found that the food an expectant mother eats not only affects their epigenetics, but their children’s as well. A diet that is low in methyl, the chemical tags, can decrease DNA methylation, which affects how genes are expressed. In bees, scientists have found that a larva destined to become a queen will be fed royal jelly, which is a substance that comes from the heads of worker bees. Scientists discovered that a specific gene called Dnmt3 in bees codes to silence the queen genes. Royal jelly turns off this gene, giving larva queenly behaviors and a larger abdomen for laying eggs. Because the queen bee is fed royal jelly, she will develop these traits, which are different than worker bees, who are otherwise genetically identical.
Epigenetics is a form of biotechnology that involves manipulating genes by turning them on or off based on the external factors that affect your lifestyle. This form of biotechnology is best used in the form of cancer treatments, which many scientists believe has changed the way we treat cancer. Cancer was thought to be purely a genetic disease; however, scientists have discovered that cancer is also caused by epigenetic matters. Epigenetic cancer treatments target the genes that have been turned off in cancer cells and instead of killing the cell, specific genes are reactivated, which leads to the cancer cell resetting itself back into a normal human cell. Epigenetics has revolutionized the way that cancer is being treated, as well as other neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia in the form of DNA methylation. DNA methylation is when methyl is added to genes and changes the way that genes express themselves, which changes the way that the brain functions and can help in the treatment of neurological disorders.
Epigenetics is a very new and complex subject which you could probably see from the past paragraphs, but the future is looking up for epigenetics. In this “Scholarly Resources for Learning and Research | Gale. https://www.gale.com/” it was shown that epigenetics could be one of the leading ways that we can help avoid mental disorders in children such as autism. Since epigenetics is all about the study of inheritance so what if we could alter what the offspring inherit. This of course wouldn’t fully cure them of everything, but it could heavily lessen their load. Since epigenetics is so new, most of the things I am talking about are very hypothetical, but bio engineering was all hypothetical when it was first introduced
The study of epigenetics has evolved significantly throughout the years and has changed the way we use biotechnology today. Gaining a better understanding of how epigenetics works has led scientists to many important discoveries, such as how the external environment affects the development of genes and future generations. Epigenetics has also changed the way certain diseases are treated, such as new cancer treatments which are less invasive and more effective than traditional treatments. Finally, as more advancements are made in the study of epigenetics, we are also getting closer to finding cures for mental disorders in children before they are born. As more research is done on epigenetics, we can be sure that the future can lead to breakthroughs that will drastically affect how we understand and implement epigenetics in our daily lives.
Bibliography:
Xi, Sigma. “Scholarly Resources for Learning and Research | Gale.” Gale in Context: Science , 2012, https://www.gale.com/.
Motevalizadeh Ardekani, Ali. “Role of Epigenetics in Biology and Human Diseases.” Iranian Biomedical Journal, Pasteur Institute, Nov. 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5075137/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20major%20effects,to%20health%20and%20cancer%20patients.
Weinhold, Bob. “Epigenetics: The Science of Change.” Environmental Health Perspectives, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Mar. 2006, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1392256/.
Issa, Jean-Pierre. “Epigenetic Therapy.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 16 Oct. 2007, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/epigenetic-therapy/.
“Epigenetics and Inheritance.” Epigenetics and Inheritance, genetic science learning centre, 15 July 2013, Epigenetics & Inheritance (utah.edu)
“Nutrition and the Epigenome.” Nutrition and the Epigenome, 15 July 2013,
