1

[Student Name]

[Course Title]

[Instructor]

[Date]
 2

Our genes play an important role in the maintenance of our health and also determine our

behaviors as well as your environment. Epigenetics refers to the study about the heritable

changes being caused due to the activation and deactivation of genes without any changes in the

underlying in the DNA sequence of the organism on whole. It investigates how our behaviors

and environment can give raise to the changes that can affect the way your genes express

themselves. Considering that our environment and behaviors can result in epigenetic changes, it

is easy to link between our genes and our behavior.

Epigenetic modifications can manifest themselves frequently as the manner in which

cells tend to differentiate and to end up as skin cells, brain cells, liver cells, etc. In other words,

epigenetic change can have more devastating effects that can result in diseases such as cancer. At

least three systems such as DNA methylation, histone modification as well as non-coding RNA

correlated gene deactivation are currently considered to initiate and sustain epigenetic change.

Lately, DNA methylation is one of the most widely researched and well-characterized

epigenetic modifications dating back to studies done by Griffith and Mahler which suggested

that DNA methylation may be essential in long term memory function. Epigenetic processes are

natural and very important to sustain numerous organism functions, but if they take place

inadequately, there can be adverse health and behavioral complications. Errors in the epigenetics

serve as modification of the wrong gene or failure to add the correct chemical group to a

particular gene or histone. This can lead to abnormal activity of the gene or even complete

inactivity. Altered gene activity, particularly caused by epigenetic errors, is a common cause of

genetic disorders. Conditions including cancers, metabolic disorders, and degenerative disorders

have been found to be associated to epigenetic errors.

Several lifestyle factors have been identified that might modify epigenetic patterns, such

as nutrition, stress, obesity, physical activity, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption,

environmental pollutants, psychological stress, and overworking.

Expanding evidence shows that environmental and lifestyle factors may impact different

epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, histone acetylation and microRNA

expression. For instance, past human epidemiological studies have shown evidence that prenatal

environmental factors influence the risk of developing numerous chronic diseases and behavioral

disorders in adults. Different studies have shown that children born during the period of the

Dutch famine from 1944-1945 have a higher rate of coronary heart disease and obesity after

maternal exposure to famine during early pregnancy. Research has also proved that a mother’s

exposure to pollutants could affect her child’s asthma susceptibility and her uptake of vitamin D

could change DNA methylation that impacts the functioning of placenta. This conveys that it

does not stop at the mother; however, studies support that the father has a part in his child’s

health and epigenetic marks as well. Researchers have found that fathers who consume an

excessive amount of certain supplements can epigenetically harm their offspring, by affecting

their learning ability and memory.

Diet has also been shown to modify epigenetic tags in important ways. The field of

nutria-epigenomics dictates how food and epigenetics work together to influence health and

wellbeing. Overweight, obesity, and sedentary lifestyle are the prevailing risk factors for several

diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Exposure to air pollution has been

associated with increased morbidity and mortality from cardiorespiratory disease, including

those related with increased lung cancer risk. Cancer is established as the first human disease that

was associated to epigenetics. Studies performed by Feinberg, using primary human tumor
 4

tissues found that genes of colorectal cancer cells were hypomethylated juxtaposed with normal

tissues. Ten DNA hypomethylation can cause oncogenes and initiate chromosome instability. On

the contrary, DNA hypermethylation initiates deactivation of tumor suppressor genes. An

accumulation of genetic and epigenetic errors can change a normal cell into an intrusive or

metastatic tumor cell (Simmons, 2008). A professor named Randy Jirtle, and his colleagues

found that there could be about 600 imprinted genes in mice.

According to research published by Nilamadhab Mishra, and his colleagues, the team

claims that it’s the first to demonstrate a specific link between aberrant histone modification and

mechanisms underlying lupus-like symptoms in mice. They confirmed that a drug known as

trichostatin A, could reverse the modifications. The drug tends to reset the inactive histone

modification by correcting hypoacetylation at two histone sites. However, one of the more

startling reports published challenged this belief and suggested that epigenetic changes may last

in at least four subsequent generations of organisms.

A professor named as Michael Skinner, his team described in their experiment about how

they briefly exposed pregnant rats to individual relatively high levels of the insecticide

methoxychlor and the fungicide vinclozolin. They documented the effects and showed a decrease

in sperm production and increased male infertility in the male pups. They also found that

alteration of DNA methylation of two genes.

Apart from this, Director of the Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory Manel Esteller, and his

colleagues evaluated 40 pairs of identical twins, ranging in age from 3 to 74. Younger twin

pairs; who lived together and shared similar lifestyles had a very similar DNA methylation and

histone acetylation patterns. However, the older twins who spent fewer years of their lives

together and had different lifestyles and had much different patterns in many different tissues
 5

such as lymphocytes, epithelial mouth cells, intra-abdominal fat, and selected muscles (Annalisa

Roberti, 2019).

According to the studies by Jirtle and Robert Waterland, the color changes were directly

linked to alternations in DNA methylations. Supplementation of the pregnant mother’s diet with

vitamin B12, choline, folic acid, and betaine can result in changes in the pigmentation of mouse

pup fur, varying from yellow to brown.

Many observers say technology will need to continue advancing due to the fact that

epigenetic work is to continue breaking new grounds. Moreover, Epigenetics is anticipated to

help explain how gene expression is adjusted by lifestyle and environmental factors, and to bring

a boarder understanding of individual responses to environmental stimulation and acquired risk

factors. Since both epigenetic mechanisms and lifestyle are modifiable, epigeneticists have

largely unexplored opportunities to ascertain how tightly epigenetic markers are reliant on

lifestyle factors and whether the epigenetic mechanisms can be modified even after positive or

negative lifestyle changes.

On the whole, by perusing Dr. Oz’s family history, I became acquainted that I am more at

risk of cerebrovascular accidents due to my father’s genes, cancer and diabetic from my mother’s

genes.
 6

Bibliography

Annalisa Roberti, A. F. (2019). Epigenetics in cancer therapy and nanomedicine. BMC, 1.

Simmons, D. (2008). Epigenetic Influences and Disease. Nature, 1.