The Importance Of Biology

Moshe Szyf, an epigenist informed us through his Ted Talk, “How life experience is written into DNA,” of our genes and how they are “combined of two components” (15:17). He used rhetorical strategies to engage his audience in understanding the view of DNA through an epigenetics perspective. He provides many examples of experiments performed which show these layers of information. The two layers include the old information from millions of years of evolution and the epigenetic layer which includes the open and dynamic set up of a narrative that is interactive and allows us to control our destiny.

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

They have identified key molecules that regulate the cell cycle in all eukaryotic organisms, including yeasts, plants, animals and human. These fundamental discoveries have a great impact on all aspects of cell growth. Defects in cell cycle control may lead to the type of chromosome alterations seen in cancer cells. This may in the long-term open

The genome is the complete set of an individual’s inheritable traits or it’s DNA. As a fetus develops, signals are received that cause incremental change in the gene expression patterns. The DNA in our bodies is wrapped around proteins called histone. The histone and DNA are covered in chemical tags. This structure is called an epigenome. The epigenome shapes the structure of the genome. Epigenetic marks are modifications of DNA and histones. The epigenome tightly wraps inactive genes and allows active genes to be more easily accessible. The epigenome adjusts specific genes in response to our changing environment. The programming of neurons through epigenetic mechanisms is critical in neural development. A type of cellular memory is formed when those changes occur. These are epigenetic tags. Each tag records the cell’s experiences on the DNA. This is to help stabilize gene expression. Over time, and with thousands of different experiences, an epigenetic profile forms for each cell type. Each one is unique, with a distinct identity and a specialized function. A flexible epigenome allows us to adjust and learn from our mistakes. The epigenome responds to signals. These signals come from a variety of places. From fetal development to old age, our epigenome is effected by our environmental factors.

The Mechanisms of gene regulation are used by a cell to determine whether to increse or decrease

Epigenetic (defined as reversible regulation of various genome functions, occurring without change in DNA sequence)(6, 7) , modification has recently emerged as one of the

Epigenetic factors are compounds that attach to, or "mark" DNA. These factors interact with genetic material, but do not change the underlying DNA sequence. Instead, they act as chemical tags, indicating what, where, and when genes should be "turned on" or expressed. Some epigenetic factors come from natural sources or are even encoded in the DNA, and are a normal part of gene regulation. That is, the epigenome helps control which genes are active in a particular cell, and therefore, which proteins are transcribed locally. For example, epigenetic factors tell brain cells to act like brain cells, and skin cells to behave like skin cells. In the absence of a normal epigenome, disease can occur. These factors are also increasingly implicated in social and behavioral traits.

Not only social experiences cause epigenetic changes, but also the lifestyle. Although epigenetic marks are more consistent during adulthood, it follows the human lifespan through the malleability of the lifestyle varieties and environmental impact. Nutritional bioactivity in certain foods can modify gene expression via alteration in DNA with methylation and histone modifications, which have influences on health and wellbeing (“Epigenetics: the link between nature and nurture,” 2013). Studies have revealed that different foods have different impacts on the epigenome and health; for example, diets that are high in fat, and low in low carbohydrates may open up chromatin and improve mental capability via HDAC (histone deacetylase) inhibitors (Epigenetics: Fundamentals, History, and Examples | What is Epigenetics?, n.d.). While other studies have shown that consuming certain

Clearly, it performs a significant role in the development of the organism on multiple levels. Chromatin directs the course of a cell’s specialization from the time the zygote divides, resulting in the physical structure of a multicellular organism. Evolutionary development is also impacted when an altered form of the chromatin is inherited by the offspring of an organism. Regulation of the chromatin at the level of transcription also provides much insight to the maintenance of the genetic materials, which determines its expression during growth and

I am Dhruvkumar Patel, a second year Western undergraduate student studying medical sciences. I am seeking an opportunity as a volunteer research assistant and would love to be a part of your research team. I am passionate about learning new things and am extremely interested in gaining more knowledge about memory and its relation to epigenetics. I always believed that memories were created and stored physically by the creation, modifications and stimulation of nerve cells and did not think to look deeper. Looking at it through DNA and nucleus provides a brand new perspective to look at memories.

It is imperative for the interpretation of genes and the production of proteins. Moreover, it is a precision guide that constructs the genome along fundamental and biochemical constraints. This played a key role in allowing the code to be conserved over the course of 3 billion years and enables it to shape how mutations affect the evolution of the genome.

What if genes that were already previously expressed could help synthesize or reactivate cell replication faster? The idea behind this question is what people call epigenetic transcriptional memory. Organisms, in order to adapt in their environment, will alter gene expression to be able to survive different temperatures, stress, etc. Organisms can “remember” a previous condition and then adapt to that environmental condition faster in the future. Epigenetic transcriptional memory is the same in which in response to a certain modification or stimulus, it can “remember” this alteration and use it to change other gene expressions faster. This process helps establish and maintain a state that is heritable to progeny (Brickner, 2010). In a eukaryotic

The overall goal of this paper is to see how epigenomic programming is established and maintained through behavioral programming, and whether or not it’s modifiable or reversible later in life (specifically adult, post-mitotic tissues). The authors’ hypothesis is that maternal care such as pup licking and grooming (LG) as well as arched-back nursing (ABN) can affect DNA methylation of the GR promotor region, exon 1 base 7 promoter, and that these effects can be sustained throughout adulthood while being associated with differences in hippocampus glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression and Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) reactions to stress. The independent variable in this experiment is the Trichostatin A (TSA) injection/infusion. Trichostatin A is a Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor. It is made up of chemical compounds that interfere with gene expression by removing the acetyl groups from the histones.

The ability to control expression of DNA at the level of transcription is vital for cells not only to have the correct proteins expressed when they are needed, but also to save on resources and energy by only making proteins and RNA needed at the correct time, rather than beginning the process of expressing DNA and degrading the results later on. Though there are several different ways that DNA transcription can be controlled, histone deacetylation is the one focused on in the Vershon lab. DNA, which has a negative charge, is stored wrapped around proteins called histones. Histones can have negative acetyl groups on them, contributing to the overall charge of the protein. Removal of the acetyl groups makes the histone more

One of the fundamental discoveries of the 20th century was that DNA was the genetic code’s physical structure (Watson & Crick, 1953) and, since then, many studies have disclosed the complicated pattern of regulation and expression of genes, which involve RNA synthesis and its subsequent translation into proteins.