Epigenetics: How The Life We Lead Changes Our Genes

Most of us probably know that our DNA is the foundation of who we are and there is nothing we can do to change it. Or is there? Well, scientists have made some pretty interesting discoveries about that. It turns out, our lifestyle can actually affect our genes. The study of these findings is known as epigenetics (literally meaning above genetics). Just to clarify, our DNA isn't actually changing, meaning the sequence of bases (A,C,G, and T) remains the same. But, our lifestyle can either trigger or suppress genes we already have. And once those genes are activated or deactivated, they can't be reversed to their original state. The implications of this are enormous. This mean that your lifestyle will affect our children, because of the genes you manipulate and pass on to them. It means your parents lifestyle has affected you, and you didn't even know (isn't that a scary thought).  But in all seriousness, it is pretty cool to think about, and once again the possibilities it hold are truly endless. 

For more information, check out the following links:

http://www.whatisepigenetics.com/fundamentals/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1392256/

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/epigenetic-influences-and-disease-895