Epigenetics: The Ghost in Your Genes
Epigenetics is an emerging science that is revising our understanding of the development of disease, heredity and how the expression of genes can be modified throughout one’s lifetime in response to environmental pressures. As a result of this science, it is becoming evident that environmental exposure from one generation can modify the expression of genes and can subsequently have a significant impact on the fitness of future generations. The following video from the BBC entitled The Ghost in Your Genes, provides a nice overview of the development of the science and its future potential. Below if part one of five; the complete playlist can be found here.
The scientists who believe your genes are shaped in part by your ancestors’ life experiences. Biology stands on the brink of a shift in the understanding of inheritance. The discovery of epigenetics — hidden influences upon the genes — could affect every aspect of our lives. At the heart of this new field is a simple but contentious idea — that genes have a ‘memory’. That the lives of your grandparents — the air they breathed, the food they ate, even the things they saw — can directly affect you, decades later, despite your never experiencing these things yourself. And that what you do in your lifetime could in turn affect your grandchildren.
