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Today I want to share with you an interesting review article that came out in Nature.com last March.
Maybe some of you have played the video game Assassin's Creed. If so, the term "genetic memory" may sound familiar to you. In the game, some researchers discovered that we actually carry the memories of our ancestors, and so they developed a machine that could look for those memories and revive the life events of our ancestors. That's why Desmond could "see" Altair's or Ezio's life.
Epigenetics is actually not too far from that idea.
Over the past decade, scientists have discovered that genes are not the only thing we inherit from our parents. There is another layer of information of top of that, and that's why it is called "epi"genetics (epi=over).
Some early reports explained that environmental factors such as stress, air pollution, starvation, etc, could affect gene expression by turning on or off certain genes. But it did not stop there: those changes could actually be inherited for at least two generations. So for instance, if a parent smokes, this can alter gene expression and increase the risk of having kids of above average weight. The children of that smoker parent can in turn transmit that same genetic change to their own kids!
Studies in people have been, of course, sociological. Following cohorts of individuals over time or analyzing records. Studies in animals such as mice have been more "invasive" and have shown results that are even more striking.
Here is the article. It's written in quite simple terms, give it a try if you want Hope you enjoy it!
Let me know if you have questions, I will try to answer them ^^
And here is some great art I think illustrates this topic very well. Thank you to all the awesome artists!
<da:thumb id="477581347"/>
Maybe some of you have played the video game Assassin's Creed. If so, the term "genetic memory" may sound familiar to you. In the game, some researchers discovered that we actually carry the memories of our ancestors, and so they developed a machine that could look for those memories and revive the life events of our ancestors. That's why Desmond could "see" Altair's or Ezio's life.
Epigenetics is actually not too far from that idea.
Over the past decade, scientists have discovered that genes are not the only thing we inherit from our parents. There is another layer of information of top of that, and that's why it is called "epi"genetics (epi=over).
Some early reports explained that environmental factors such as stress, air pollution, starvation, etc, could affect gene expression by turning on or off certain genes. But it did not stop there: those changes could actually be inherited for at least two generations. So for instance, if a parent smokes, this can alter gene expression and increase the risk of having kids of above average weight. The children of that smoker parent can in turn transmit that same genetic change to their own kids!
Studies in people have been, of course, sociological. Following cohorts of individuals over time or analyzing records. Studies in animals such as mice have been more "invasive" and have shown results that are even more striking.
Here is the article. It's written in quite simple terms, give it a try if you want Hope you enjoy it!
Let me know if you have questions, I will try to answer them ^^
And here is some great art I think illustrates this topic very well. Thank you to all the awesome artists!
<da:thumb id="477581347"/>
DA Science Academy - Needing New Management!
Hey everyone! I've been pretty busy with other things lately, and I just don't think I can make the time to give this group the love it deserves! I'd love to hand it off to more capable hands. If you're interested in taking over management and have some ideas for how to improve this group, please drop me a note!
Cheers! Happy New Year everyone!!
P.S. Sorry if your submissions expired...that's another reason that finding a new manager would be a good thing! :)
Genetic selection, happening now
Hi all!
I have been quite busy with many things these weeks, including some stressful deadlines and meetings (some still going on :S). Anyway, today I wanted to show you this video from CBS News's 60 min program aired last month: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/breeding-out-disease-with-reproductive-genetics/
It is a bit sensationalist but the science presented is real. While watching it, it reminded me on some science fiction books I used to read years ago, like Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", or the movie GATTACA.
What are your thought about this?
Personally I have mixed feelings when it comes to this kind of technology. I do believe that
Spare pieces from your own cells? One step closer.
Regenerative medicine and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), what is so special about them? In simple terms, it's the promise of being able to repair/replace damaged tissues in our bodies with our own cells.
Think of it like a transplant not from another person, but from your own cells (for example skin cells) that were induced to form the tissue/organ that needs to be replaced (heart cells, liver cells, etc). No immune rejection or such a thing.
Still, the process is very complex and we are still a long way of making this a routine treatment. However, for "simpler" tissues there are some advances: last Friday, it was announced that in
Older people need less sleep - Are you sure?
At least where I live, this is a fairly common phrase you may hear from time to time. But is it really that true?
It has been known for a while that people in their 70's sleep about 1.5 hours less than when they were in their 20's. It is also known that, as we age, some cells in our bodies begin to die... yeah, sadly that is the way we work :(
How do these two facts relate?
Recently, some studies found out that in elderly people a particular set of neurons in the brain begins to die off. This cluster of neurons happens to be the one responsible with regulating the sleep pattern. In other words, it isn't that older people need less sleep, th
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Good one! Genetics is a really interesting discipline and epigenetics is one of its areas that are not too well known for the majority of the people, is good having people who spread information on internet! I remember when i did read about this and other "kinda-weird " topics of genetics and systematics for the first time on Campbell's Biology
book some years ago... it was hella mindblowing!!😍😱
book some years ago... it was hella mindblowing!!😍😱