Epigenetic Changes In DNA

DNA or should I say deoxyribonucleic acid is a double stranded polymer of nucleotides that carries the genetic information of an organism and is found in the nucleus. DNA is replicated by the cell and controls cellular processes. Cells all have the same DNA but only certain sets of genes are expressed while the others are inhibited. This ensures that the body is making the necessary cells, tissues and organs. Epigenetics is responsible for this; epigenetic changes determine which proteins are transcribed by switching the genes on or off, depending on the needs of the body. It is the non-coding DNA also known as junk DNA that contains key elements such as enhancers and silencers for transcription, allowing the cells to regulate when and where to express “turn on” each protein and RNA. RNA transcribes the code to build whatever proteins the cell needs. Epigenetics is the answer to a lot of questions that scientists have asked over the years involving inheritable traits not found in DNA.

Recently there has been a lot of talk among scientists about how experiences in your youth such as trauma or stress may contribute to mental illness or addiction by causing epigenetic changes to your genes. These epigenetic changes have the ability to turn genes on or off without altering the code within DNA (only by expressing certain parts of it). This change can chemically influence gene activity without changing the information in these genes. The epigenetic modifications can alter how active your genes are and the way the brain responds to certain experiences. Many scientists including Eric J Nestler think that these epigenetic changes or as he calls them epigenetic marks are the reason mental illness can pass from generation to generation.

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Nestler said it perfectly, “Exposure to the environment and to different experiences (including random occurrences) throughtout development and adulthood can modify the activity of our genes and, hence, the ways these traits manifest themselves. What researchers still don’t understand is how and to what extent epigenetics influences our behavioural traits and susceptibility to mental illness and whether such vulnerabilities can be passed to future genertations.

Another mental illness, PTSD posttraumatic stress disorder has also been the subject of study regarding epigenetics. Is it possible for second generation survivors of the Holocaust or wars to have higher levels of stress hormone cortisol? If your parents are afflicted with mood swings, irritability, jumpiness and hypervigilance typical of PTSD are you going to end up like that too?