Kudos for tackling complexities of epigenetics.
An article in Slate clearly explains the complex gene-environment interactions of epigenetics that have modified the notion that a fixed DNA blueprint controls health.
The article "Goodbye, genetic blueprint" in Slate artfully presents the complexity of the growing research field of epigenetic gene regulation. By covering this topic so well, writer Christine Kenneally effectively undercuts the concept of genetic determinism – that is, that one’s present and future health and illness is preordained through an invariant DNA blueprint.
Too frequently, news reports trumpet a newly found key gene that will explain the entire cause of a complex medical condition (one could call it "the gene for X syndrome"). The articles often put forward a tenuous hope that a cure for all such ailments will be found purely through the identification and eventual repair of defective DNA.
But it's far more complex than that scenario suggests. The new frontier of epigenetics incorporates environmental influences – such as pollution exposure, elevated stress and improper nutrition – into the ongoing regulation of each individual’s genome. These changes to the working genome can be permanent and can occur in people from conception to the elderly. Epigenetics realizes the potential of harmful environmental interactions to cause illness or improper development not only for the individual, but also potentially their offspring.
Solid and clear writing such as in this article benefits the public understanding of the unfolding intricacy of life processes and the complex, ongoing interactions between living things and the quality of the environment.
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