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Environment affects
your Epigenome
Melissa Sylvester
TELA
February 27, 2012
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Contents
S What is your epigenome?
S how it all works
S Studies done
S Why does it all matter
S What you can do now
What is epigenome?
S Your genome is all of your hereditary information.
S Epi means the above/outer
S Epigenome is the study of the heritable changes in gene
expression and the regulation of gene expression.
How it works?
S We are studying the changes of the regulation of gene expression
and it happens by genes turned on and off by histone methylation.
This happens by a methyl group (CH3) to attach to a sit on the
histone to help activate a gene in that area.
S Our genetic material is compacted but some genes are not
expressed because the genetic material is too compacted to be
read, this is why histone methylation comes into play, it can
loosen the genetic material in certain areas that are too compacted
so the genes there can be expressed.
S However it can be reversed where it has the ability to deactivate
the expression of a gene.
S
Study on rats
S there was a study between two groups of the same rats, but
treated differently. The two rat groups diverged because one
group was fed with toxins and low on methyl rich foods that
caused them to be obese, high risk to cancer/get cancer, and
bad health. The other group was fed with vitamins and had
a rich methyl diet, which lead to a brown coat and they were
healthy. Unfortunately, when the rats produced the mothers
that were obese and had a high risk for cancer passed it on
to their offspring. You were able to tell by their coat color as
well.
Study on twins
S Compared the epigenome of twins, mainly because they are
supposed to have the same genetic material.
S Found that younger twins have exactly the same genome
and epigenome, but as they get older to their 20’s their
epigenome is more dissimilar, because they start living
different lives, have different lifestyles. Also the change you
make on your epigenome is permanent.
Event that lead to study on
hereditary
S To support that toxins and affects to what you are exposed to can
affect your children
S Event that lead to a study, where women took a particular
medicine that prevented miscarriages, but the women who took
the medicine gave birth to offspring that got rare cancers and had
severe abnormalities. Then the daughters who had these rare
cancers and abnormalities had offspring with the same conditions,
S Although this was not a study but an observation scientists and
doctors made, it shows that what you take can affect your
offspring and their offspring and so on.
Why does it all matter?
S What you decide to eat, take, how you decide to live can
affect your offspring because
S If you are unhealthy and the epigenome deactivates a gene
to suppress cancer, your offspring will still have that gene
deactivated leading them to have a high risk of developing
cancer. Unfortunately most of your genetic material is
passed on through generations no matter what is it is, which
is why you need to take care of your self.
What can you do now?
S change your lifestyle to what you want your child to have
S Eat healthier.
S Exercise
S If you already have children you can still reduce the risks of
cancer by doing the actions above with your children.
Questions?