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YOU ARE WHAT YOUR GRANDPARENTS ATE
Conclusion
The fact that this is a new science doesn't mean that we should ignore the effects that our lifestyles today may have on our children's children. It will change the way the causes of disease are viewed, as well as the importance of lifestyles and family relationships. What people do, no longer just affects themselves, but can determine the health of their children and grandchildren in decades to come. 'We are,' as Marcus Pembrey says, 'all guardians of our genome'.
In the case of disease, says Reik, 'there are clearly genetic factors involved, but there are also other factors involved. My suspicion is that it will be a combination of genetic and epigenetic factors, as well as environmental factors, that determine all these diseases.'
Epigenetics adds a whole new layer to genes beyond the DNA. It proposes a control system of 'switches' that turn genes on or off. It suggests that things people experience, like nutrition and stress, can control these switches and cause heritable effects in humans.
Epigenetic marks have the advantage of being fully reversible while genome mutations remain fixed. So in whose hands does our destiny lie after all? The mindset has changed: more and more people accept that susceptibility to disease is a combination of genetic and epigenetic modifications, interacting with the environment.
The science of epigenetics points to another factor which has such profound implications for the health of all of 'civilised' Mankind. If we continue to bow to 'politically correct' nutrition and disregard the increasing evidence of harm, that harm may not be just to our health, but to the health of our children and their children. This could be catastrophic for our species.
Unlike the unhealthy fixation with climate change, on which we devote obscene amounts of resources, with no likelihood of benefit, 'healthy eating' is something we can change to our benefit — and it needn't cost a penny.
References
1. Lumey LH. Decreased birthweights in infants after maternal in utero exposure to the Dutch famine of 1944-1945. Paediatr Perinat Ep 1992; 6:240-53.
2. Pembrey M, et al. Sex-specific, sperm-mediated transgenerational responses in humans. Eur J Hum Genet 2005; 14: 159—166.
3. Bygren LO, et al. Longevity determined by ancestors' overnutrition during their slow growth period. Acta Biotheoret 2001; 49: 53—59.
4. Kaati G, et al. Cardiovascular and diabetes mortality determined by nutrition during parents' and grandparents' slow growth period. Eur J Hum Genet 2002; 10: 682—688.
5. Bygren LO, et al. 2001, op cit.
6. Kallio P, Kolehmainen M, Laaksonen DE, et al. Dietary carbohydrate modification induces alterations in gene expression in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue in persons with the metabolic syndrome: the FUNGENUT Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2007; 85: 1417-1427.
7. Arnaud P, Feil R. Epigenetic deregulation of genomic imprinting in human disorders and following assisted reproduction. Birth Defects Res C Embryo Today 2005; 75: 81-97.
8. Perini G, Tupler R. Altered gene silencing and human diseases. Clin Genet 2006; 69: 1-7.
9. Schanen NC. Epigenetics of autism spectrum disorders. Hum Mol Genet 2006; 15 Spec No 2: R138-50.
10. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/ghostgenes.shtml Accessed January 2006.
11. Anway MD, Cupp AS, Uzumcu M, Skinner MK. Epigenetic transgenerational actions of endocrine disruptors and male fertility. Science 2005; 308: 1466-9.
Part 4: Cancer Clue | Part 5: Conclusion and References
Last updated 17 November 2009
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