From: hounddog23x@gmail.com   
      
   How epigenetics, our gut microbiome and the environment interact to change our   
   lives   
   Ben Locwin | September 15, 2014 | Genetic Literacy Project   
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   There's been increasing media coverage recently harkening back to Lamarck and   
   inheritance of genetic code that changes in response to the environment   
   (epigenetics).   
      
   "Lamarckism" as it came to be called was eschewed for more than a hundred   
   years after its initial proposition because it was thought that genes were   
   static (this reminds me of how Einstein originally developed a model which   
   required an expanding universe,   
    then he added a coefficient (the 'Cosmological Constant') to return its   
   behavior to a static state, which later in hindsight was found to be wrong).   
   Now it appears Lamarck, while overstating the plasticity of genes, was on to   
   something.   
      
   Epigenetics suggests that our genes are constantly in a state of flux, exposed   
   and changing in response to environmental factors. But are these changes   
   indeed heritable? Currently, there isn't yet consensus that environment,   
   epigenetics, and inheritance    
   intersect or a valid theory for how genes behave in organisms. But now that   
   Lamarckism back in the public's vernacular there will be countless studies   
   performed to support or refute the thesis.   
      
   Research shown at the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2014   
   conference supported some conjecture that epigenetics and some form of   
   heritability are in fact linked. That suggests that much of our lives and life   
   trajectories could in    
   actual fact reflect a sensitive interplay between our environment, genes   
   (epigenetics) and microbiome, as in illustrated in the Venn   
      
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   diagram, in which the intersection of all of these factors is, quite simply,   
   'us.'   
      
   The proposed Venn of the interplay of our environment, adaptable genes, and   
   microbiome. At the center intersection: Us.   
      
   External environment   
      
   We are influenced by external factors (sunlight, environmental toxins, stress,   
   temperature, etc.), all of which can, to varying degrees, alter our genes.   
   I've already explained in another article how something as simple as   
   grapefruit can downregulate (   
   inhibit the activity of) enzymes produced by our genes, making it more likely   
   the external environment will interact with our body; grapefruits interact   
   with more than 90 drugs   
      
   DNA_UV_damage   
      
   because of this effect. It's also been shown that the ultraviolet part of the   
   spectrum in sunlight causes manifest changes in cellular DNA, which can lead   
   to skin cancer.   
      
   We also know of chemicals and drugs that have teratogenic (adversely influence   
   the proper genetic development) properties. A Lancet study from 2012 showed   
   that 510,000 deaths occurred worldwide as a result of congenital disorders.   
   Therefore, we know of    
   many external mechanisms and their impact on our body, potentially through   
   epigenetic means. The penultimate forerunner of epigenetics is the Hygiene   
   Hypothesis, which states that lack of early exposure to foreign bodies   
   (bacteria, viruses, parasites,    
   allergens, etc.) is associated with a dysregulated (i.e., not functioning   
   normally) immune system.   
      
   The Microbiome   
      
   News coverage has flirted with the topic of digestive microbiome   
   (euphemistically called 'gut health' or similar). What I read is often   
   misquoted from the research literature, 'extrapolated' and generalized beyond   
   the study data and littered with    
   anecdotes. What IS clear is that as a society we are, on average, too   
   clean.post-2282-Human-Microbiome-Project-Decod-YCSc   
      
   The microbiome usually refers to the flora that colonizes our digestive   
   systems. I specifically didn't refer to this (logically enough) as the   
   'internal environment.' Why? Here's the reality to our 'internal' and   
   'external' environments: The human body    
   has developed in such a way that the alimentary canal (digestive system) forms   
   a path through the body. In this way, the body basically envelops the space   
   that is the alimentary system; therefore your digestive system is outside of   
   your body. Let's think    
   about that again: Inside your digestive system is outside of your body. Your   
   body accesses nutrients through digestion from food passing through, but these   
   nutrients pass through your intestinal walls, and your body is effectively   
   separated from the food    
   by many layers of cellular lamina; the food is really outside of your body. By   
   contrast, those things inside of your body, such as organs, blood, etc. are   
   designed to be axenic - this term means 'free from foreign bodies.' If you   
   weren't axenic, that    
   would mean that you had an active infection.   
      
   A big portion of this is the microbiome of the gut. It has been estimated that   
   there are 10-100 times more organisms in the human gut than comprise the   
   entire human body. For this reason, there is an incredible, largely invisible   
   world, of cellular    
   communication, symbiosis and chemistry occurring between 'us' and our   
   microbiome. Strictly speaking, we could consider these organisms to be   
   'outside' of our body, based on what I described earlier. But either way make   
   no mistake: Without our intestinal    
   flora, we would not survive. They are part (a large part) of our immune   
   system, they help digest food, they keep us free from illness by out-competing   
   foreign pathogens (by producing bacteriocins, fatty acids, and taking up   
   surface area to prevent    
   pathogen implantation), and so forth.   
      
   Our intestinal colonies have also been targeted for study because of how they   
   make antioxidants in cocoa available for our bodies to use. And there is   
   marked impact of this: a meta-analysis (a study of studies) of 20 research   
   papers showed a marked drop    
   in blood pressure in those who consumed dark chocolate or cocoa daily; this is   
   a direct result of the fermentation and further digestion of these compounds   
   made possible by our microbiome.   
      
   How Do These Three Pieces Interact?   
      
   As shown in the Venn diagram, there is a circularity here. Each of the   
   elements influences the other: Our environment provides the stimulus for   
   epigenetics; our microbiome influences epigenetics; our environment influences   
   our microbiome.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)