Epigenetics and other intersting science and pshychology links

I have created this web page to share information on what to me is one of the most incredible discoveries in medicine ever. In the 1990s the big news in genetics was simply mapping the genome itself. The genome contains all the DNA instructions we require to build and maintain all of our biology- our health- and is used by stem cells to replicate when new cells in the body are needed to replace old/unhealthy cells. For example- many cancers stem from improper stem cell replication. We thought that all that we would become biologically would stem from this genome- but we soon discovered discrepancies and anomalies we could not explain. We saw that there had to be other tags or information stored somehow, somewhere that was governing how our bodies were functioning. What we have discovered is that there is another layer which controls whether the genes are active or not. This layer- the epigenetic layer- could actually be more active in affecting our biology than the gene itself. Think of the gene as your computer- and the epigenetic layer as the software that runs on the computer- tells it what to do. The most amazing and exciting thing in my mind is the fact that this epigenetic layer can be changed by things like diet and stress and is passed to future generations like the genome itself! What this means is that for example- if your grandparents or great grandparents suffered starvation, stress, or other biological stresses it could easily impact YOUR predisposition either positively or negatively to disease and impact how your body works to repair itself and almost anything else you can think of.

This also means we can have an impact on how our genes are expressed! This is also a responsibility we have to future generations. No longer can we believe that we are born with our genes and no matter what we do- smoke, drink, eat poorly, eat well, excercise, get fat, etc. we will still hand down the same genes to our offspring. How we live and what we do to our bodies during our lifetime can dramatically impact our offspring just as if we were damaging our genes with radiation. For example- vitamin B12, Folate, and vitamin D-3 are known to prevent bad epigenetic copying during cell creation. This has profound effects for us all but especially for soon to be mothers and those already pregnant. It is already known that Folate deficiency causes certain birth defects and disorders. Epigenetics is likely one reason this is true. This is why certain foods are fortified with these vitamins by law.

I have gathered some links and videos on the subject, including the Nova episode that first turned me on to the subject. Please enjoy and let me know what you think. These videos are shared for personal viewing only and should not be shared or distributed, thanks.