Epigenetics refers to the study of how behaviors and the environment can cause changes that affect the way genes work. Genes play a significant role in human health as well as behavior and the surrounding environment. Epigenetics relates to nutrition in that diets and lifestyles change gene expression. Foods consumed influence a network of chemical switches in our cells called the epigenome. The epigenome is made up of chemical compounds and proteins that are involved in regulating gene expression. They are not static in the human body and are dynamically altered by changes in the environment.
Changes caused by epigenetics are reversible and do not change the DNA sequence but can modify how the body reads the DNA sequence. Certain diets control the chemicals in the epigenome marking the DNA that controls functions like turning the genes on and off (Durbanzanrik). This interferes with the function of the DNA leading to an adjustment in gene expression that positively or negatively influences human health.
Identical twins may have different disease risks because they have similar genes but different gene expressions resulting from epigenetics.
Identical twins share the same genes, such as thick eyelashes and those that boost disease risk. However, one twin may risk contracting diseases like cancer and rheumatoid arthritis because their gene expression varies. Some diseases are caused by various environmental and genetic factors in a person’s body and differ from one person (Durbanzanrik). This explains why identical twins may feed or be raised the same but have different susceptibility to disease. Therefore, one identical twin is at high risk as epigenetic factors in their chromosomes differentiate their risk for autoimmune disease in the body.
Work Cited
Durbanzanrik. “NOVA | Epigenetics.” YouTube. 2012. Web.