EPIGENETICS
Genes play an important role in your health
Your genes play an important role in your health, but so do your behaviors and environment, such as what you eat and how physically active you are. Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence.
Connection between your genes and your behaviors and environment
Gene expression refers to how often or when proteins are created from the instructions within your genes. While genetic changes can alter which protein is made, epigenetic changes affect gene expression to turn genes “on” and “off.” Since your environment and behaviors, such as diet and exercise, can result in epigenetic changes, it is easy to see the connection between your genes and your behaviors and environment.
DNA methylation
A common type of epigenetic modification is called DNA methylation. DNA methylation involves the attachment of small chemical groups called methyl groups (each consisting of one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms) to DNA building blocks. When methyl groups are present on a gene, that gene is turned off or silenced, and no protein is produced from that gene.
Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes
Another common epigenetic change is histone modification. Histones are structural proteins in the cell nucleus. DNA wraps around histones, giving chromosomes their shape. Histones can be modified by the addition or removal of chemical groups, such as methyl groups or acetyl groups (each consisting of two carbon, three hydrogen, and one oxygen atoms). The chemical groups influence how tightly the DNA is wrapped around histones, which affects whether a gene can be turned on or off.
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Errors in the epigenetic process, such as modification of the wrong gene or failure to add a chemical group to a particular gene or histone, can lead to abnormal gene activity or inactivity. Altered gene activity, including that caused by epigenetic errors, is a common cause of genetic disorders.
Conditions such as cancers, metabolic disorders, and degenerative disorders have been found to be related to epigenetic errors.