Epigenetic Inheritance Definition Essay

Epigenetics is a study that entails the heritage changes in gene expressions, which includes both the active and the inactive genes; the changes do not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence. Meaning, it is a change in phenotypes without the differences in genotypes and consequently, affect how the cells read the genes. The epigenetic modification is a natural occurrence but apparently can be influenced by other several factors, including diseases, the environment, and age. Epigenetic changes can result in adverse damages and can end up causing infections such as cancer (Barton et al, 2016). This paper looks at what epigenetics entails, the hidden life of our genes, how food affects genes and how one can elongate life by improving health status.

Epigenetics is the future of science. It has evolved from being a science that very few believed in, to one that will shape medicine as it is known. As the Human Genome Project began, the goal was to determine which genes controlled what phenotypes in a human. After all the genes were identified and mapped, the expression of the genes that the scientists had just discovered was also beginning to be analyzed (EPIGENETICS). Although every gene had been identified and associated with a function, there were genes that if not expressed or not turned on, would create a different scenario. That is, the idea that the genotype of an individual would determine their phenotype was reinforced. Epigenetics however is the study of the switching on or off of the genes responsible for a particular action (Feinberg). For example, all of the organs of a single person have the exact same DNA as the others, yet a lung looks drastically different from a kidney. This is due to the expression of the genes responsible for creating a specific organ. If scientists are able to control the switching on and off of these genes, then many extraordinary possibilities exist.

This phenomenon normally shapes culture, behavior, and language over a long period of time. Epigenetics is the study of cellular and physiological trait variations as caused by environmental factors that switch genes on and off. This phenomenon affects the way the cells read and interpret any changes in the DNA sequence. When this coordination fails, disease

Epigenetics is defined as the science that studies communicable and reversible changes in gene expression not involving changes in the genetic support that is DNA. These changes can occur at the DNA level (cytosine methylation) or DNA binding proteins

It may be possible to pass down epigenetic changes to future generations if the changes occur in sperm or egg cells. Most epigenetic changes that occur in sperm and egg cells get erased when the two combine to form a fertilized egg in a process called "reprogramming." This reprogramming allows the cells of the fetus to "start from scratch" and make their own epigenetic changes. However, scientists think that some of the epigenetic changes in parents ' sperm and egg cells may avoid the reprogramming process and make it through to the next generation. If this is true, things like the food a person eats before they conceive could affect their future child. Scientists now think epigenetics can play a role in the development of some cancers. For instance, an epigenetic change that silences a tumor suppressor gene, such as a gene that keeps the growth of the cell in check, could lead to uncontrolled cellular growth. Another example might be an epigenetic change that "turns off" genes that help repair damaged DNA, leading to an increase in DNA damage, which in turn, increases cancer risk. (US, National Institutes of Health)

Epigenetics refers to external modifications to DNA that turn genes on or off. These alterations do not change the DNA sequence, but instead, they affect how cells read genes. One common example of an epigenetic change is DNA methylation. DNA methylation is the addition of a methyl group to part of the DNA molecule which prevents certain genes from being expressed. It should be noted that epigenetics is a fairly new subdivision in genetics and its importance in evolution and heritability is currently being developed and debated (Furrow 2011).

A related phrase described by Waddington to help elaborate the phenomenon of epigenetics, the ‘epigenetic landscape’ attempts to explain how identical genotypes could result in a wide variety of phenotypic variation through the process of development. This epigenetic landscape can be dynamic – capturing genetic, environmental, and cell lineage effects – and has been shown to be at least partly heritable. (Szyf, M. (2015) Nongenetic inheritance and transgenerational epigenetics. Trends Mol. Med. 21, 134–144). The epigenetic code is hypothesized to be a defining code in every eukaryotic cell consisting of the specific epigenetic modifications in each cell. While in one individual the genetic code in each cell is the same, the epigenetic code is tissue & cell

The epigenetic tags are erased from the chromosomes of the parents. However, there are some epigenetic tags remain on some genes known as imprinted genes.

Before conducting research and watching numerous informational videos on epigenetics, I would have never believed that when my grandmother was my age, she made dietary decisions that have affected me. Technically speaking, epigenetics simply means above genetics. In other words, epigenetics is the traits that you and I inherit, but do not necessarily necessitate the sequence of genes. I took me a while to actually grasp the concept until I thought of it from a musical perspective. Imagine our DNA helix strands as a musical score. There are different music notes as there are genes. If someone were to play Beethoven’s Symphony Number 5 correctly, it would sound the same every time. Basically, if one note is changed, the whole musical piece

I took a semester off in the Spring of 2012 and 2013. In 2012, I helped care for my grandfather, who suffered from lung cancer and passed away that April. During my time off, I volunteered in the pediatric department of the hospital where he was staying. The inoperable nature of his cancer spurred me to shadow Dr Cheng, a radiation oncologist. In 2013, my mother was told that she might have breast cancer. With my father working in China, I took time off to be with her. I decided to transfer schools because Columbia dramatically decreased my financial aid for the upcoming year, while Brandeis offered me a full scholarship. With my mother’s health issues, I did not want to further burden her financially. I shadowed Dr Anderson, a pediatric geneticist at UT Genetic Center and validated a plasma cell enrichment procedure for the diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma.

How is it that two identical twins with the exact same DNA and the same environment can be very different? (Coutney Griffin 2012) Cortney Griffin elaborated on how her journey of having twins lead her to a deeper understanding of what epigenetics truly is. This talk, although vastly viewed in biochemistry classes including at the University of Texas of El Paso, differs from the scholarly article “Epigenetics and human disease: translating basic biology into clinical applications” by David Rodenhiser and Mellissa Mann. Their most prominent similarities and differences can be separated into audience and purpose, rhetorical appeals, and structure and delivery.

The deadly disease of IPF is one the major frontiers that medical science has had a hard time tackling. The complex genetic and matrix nature of IPF makes it even harder to pinpoint the true cradle of this menace. As mentioned above, there are multiple genes and epigenetic factors that tend to express differently in IPF patients. While MUC5B has been found out to be the gene associated with IPF, only 38% patients with IPF have been found to be associated with it. Though the current research is not very well defined, epigenetic factors like smoking and gastrointestinal issues have been shown to be a possible cause of IPF. In relation to this the idea of epigenetic inheritance needs to be studied further in detail. If it can be identified that

Earlier explanations of such manifestations of TTT assumed that they were caused primarily by environmental factors, such as the parents’ child-rearing behavior (Kellermann, 2001). For many years, the prevalent notion was that children who had grown up with traumatized parents had learned to become fearful as well. New research, however, shows that transgenerational effects may be inherited also through epigenetic mechanisms (Ennis, 2014; Harper, 2005; Kellermann, 2013; Thomson, 2015; Yehuda & Bierer, 2009). An increasing number of studies are validating this claim and the term transgenerational epigenetic inheritance - TEI – has been coined to depict it (Choi & Mango, 2014).

The “new genetics” research in molecular biology, as this month’s invited Presidential Column by Frances Champagne illustrates, has important implications for psychological science (so important, in fact, that it will be the topic for the Presidential Symposium at our upcoming annual APS convention this May in San Francisco). Professor Champagne’s analysis shows how recent findings in epigenetics speak to basic and enduring questions not just within psychology, but in virtually all discussions about human character and individual differences, from philosophical symposia to dinner conversations. How much is nature? How much is nurture? Champagne takes us elegantly and at high speed from that old question toward a new understanding of the “gene

Phenotypes depend on the genes that code for them, but the expression of genes can depend on multiple factors including the environment. Epigenetics is a field in science that focuses on how the environmental plays a role in in the development of certain phenotypes by affecting gene expression. Epigenetics influences all species and works through DNA methylation and can be influenced by multiple external factor such as growth hormones.