Epigenetics and Trauma: How Epigenetics can potentially revolutionize our understanding of the structure and behavior of biological life on Earth

Di Ronald Golden

You Are A Step Away From Opening Your Eyes And Mind To The World Of Epigenetics In A Manner That Will Help You Appreciate The Complexity Of The Human Cell, Genes And Other Components And How That Knowledge Is Being Applied In Transforming Lives!

In the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-1945, the individuals who were exposed to the famine just before birth were seen, about 60 years later, to have increased rates of coronary heart disease and obesity compared to those who weren't exposed to the famine.

That must been a result of an alteration in their genetic coding, right?

NO.

Apparently, they were found to have less DNA methylation (addition of methyl groups to the DNA molecule to change a segment without affecting the DNA's sequence) of the imprinted Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 gene compared to their siblings who had not been exposed, which shows the role of a powerful factor that doesn't require the change of the genetic sequence in organisms in development and evolution.

That factor is epigenetics, and has been singled out by experts as a very important factor in evolution, yet so much underestimated in modern biology.

But how is this process organized and controlled in the human body?

How is it being used to advance human health?

What are some of the innovative ways we benefit from it, perhaps harness its power to improve chronic diseases and conditions?

Are there any risks in epigenetic therapy?

How do epigenetics work at the most basic level?

If you have these questions now, or have been having them before you landed here, then you are at the right place. This book answers these and many more questions to give you an insight into a mechanism that has become of central importance in modern day genetics research in the most straightforward, simple and comprehensive way.

The aim is to see how gene expression can successfully be altered without touching the DNA sequence, and what that means for the resultant expression of traits; and how this phenomenon can be tapped in understanding life, and improving it.

Here's a bit of what you'll find in this concise book:

What epigenetics are and how they work

Why epigenetics are important and how they relate with our experiences

The basics of body cells, including what cells really are and how they divide

The ins and outs of DNA, genes and chromosomes

How epigenetics are conceptualized today

The existing evidence of epigenetic changes; within indirect epigenetics, across indirect epigenetics and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance

The mechanisms of epigenetics and methodological insights

How epigenetic therapy is used to treat mesothelioma

The types of epigenetic therapies available today

The risks, benefits and research on epigenetic therapy

How epigenetic control affects transcriptional regulation in pluripotency and early differentiation, DNA methylation and Demethylation, nucleosome remodeling and chromatin looping

The impact of epigenetic changes in diabetes and cardiovascular risk

…And much more!

Even if you are completely new to genetics or epigenetics in particular, this book will be useful and valuable to you even if everything sounds like complex/advanced science because the book takes a beginner friendly approach to the topic.

• Lingua: Italiano
• Editore: Youcanprint
• Data di uscita: 25 gen 2022
• ISBN: 9791220372367

Anteprima del libro

Table of Contents

Intrοduсtiοn

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Epigenetics and Trauma

How Epigenetics can potentially revolutionize our understanding of the structure and behavior of biological life on Earth

Ronald Golden

Copyright All rights reserved.

This eBook is provided with the sole purpose of providing relevant information on a specific topic for which every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that it is both accurate and reasonable. Nevertheless, by purchasing this eBook, you consent to the fact that the author, as well as the publisher, are in no way experts on the topics contained herein, regardless of any claims as such that may be made within. As such, any suggestions or recommendations that are made within are done so purely for entertainment value. It is recommended that you always consult a professional prior to undertaking any of the advice or techniques discussed within.

This is a legally binding declaration that is considered both valid and fair by both the Committee of Publishers Association and the American Bar Association and should be considered as legally binding within the United States.

The reproduction, transmission, and duplication of any of the content found herein, including any specific or extended information, will be done as an illegal act regardless of the end form the information ultimately takes. This includes copied

versions of the work, both physical, digital, and audio unless express consent of the Publisher is provided beforehand. Any additional rights reserved.

Furthermore, the information that can be found within the pages described forthwith shall be considered both accurate and truthful when it comes to the recounting of facts. As such, any use, correct or incorrect, of the provided information will render the Publisher free of responsibility as to the actions taken outside of their direct purview. Regardless, there are zero scenarios where the original author or the Publisher can be deemed liable in any fashion for any damages or hardships that may result from any of the information discussed herein.

Additionally, the information in the following pages is intended only for informational purposes and should thus be thought of as universal. As befitting its nature, it is presented without assurance regarding its prolonged validity or interim quality.

Trademarks that are mentioned are done without written consent and can in no way be considered an endorsement from the trademark holder.

Introductions

In its modern sense, epigenetics is the term used to describe inheritance by mechanisms other than the DNA sequence of genes. It can be applied to the characteristics passed from a cell to its daughter cells in a cell division and to the characteristics of the whole organism. This functions through chemical tags attached to chromosomes that essentially turn genes on or off.

Scientists researching the microscopic roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans recently uncovered a series of mutations that increased the normal 2-3 week lifetime of the worms by up to 30%. It was fascinating, not least because findings of species such as roundworms will also help us appreciate mechanisms such as aging of humans. That was not the end of the tale, though, because the researchers discovered that the offspring of long-lived roundworms could still survive longer than average, even though they had just received the unmodified form of the genes from their ancestors. It doesn't appear to make sense at first; obviously characteristics such as hair colour, height, and even how long we or a tiny worm might possibly survive are borne in the DNA set of genes that we inherit from our ancestors. And how do we overcome the conundrum on how roundworms acquired a long-lived trait, without inheriting the DNA code that initially triggered it? The solution to this is epigenetics.

Not all in your DNA In a nutshell, epigenetics is a study of characteristics or phenotypes that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence; and long-lived roundworms are just one of many examples. Some, as we can see below, include how the queen and worker honey bees may look so different despite being genetically similar, how malnutrition in human societies may influence the wellbeing and survival of the next generation, why all tortoiseshell cats are female, and how we all grow from a single cell (a fertilized egg) to end up with bodies comprising several different forms of specialized bees.

One way to look at epigenetics is like this; while conventional biology explains how DNA mutations in our genomes are transferred from one generation to the next, epigenetics defines how genomes are transferred on. Think about epigenetics as metadata, knowledge identifying and arranging the underlying details to allow a code comparison. Of example, if you buy an MP3 player, it would hold a ton of details, such as MP3 files.

Think of them as analogous to genes. But you're definitely going to have playlists, too, or you can play songs by artist or genre.

This content, playlist, artist, genre and so on is metadata. This decides which songs are performed and in what sequence, and that is what epigenetics is with genetics. This is a series of mechanisms that have the purpose of flipping on or expressing

genes, as molecular biologists would claim.

And epigenetics is about how genes are processed and used, rather than the DNA structure of genes themselves, so how does this work? In the past few decades, several scholars have been researching epigenetics and it is actually an field of intensive scientific intensity. We realize that part of the way epigenetics operates is by applying and extracting tiny chemical tags to DNA. You may think of such logos as post-it notes that show different genes with details on whether or not they can be turned on or off. In addition, the chemical marker in question is called the methyl group and is used to alter one of the four bases or

atomic symbols, A, C, T and G, which make up the genetic code of our DNA. The letter that is labelled is C or cytosine, and when modified or methylated, it is labeled 5-methylcytosine.

Methyl groups are introduced to DNA by enzymes called DNA methyltransferase (DNMTs).

Epigenetic effects can sometimes happen to grandchildren More surprisingly, some data seem to suggest that grandchildren of women who were pregnant during Hunger Winter experience some of these effects. This clearly indicates an epigenetic process from what we have already mentioned. Work with Dutch Hunger Winter families begins, and a new analysis looking at the IGF2 gene has shown lower rates of methyl marker in the DNA of this gene in individuals subject to pre-birth malnutrition. While IGF2 might not itself be correlated with an increased risk of bad health in such people, it

demonstrates that epigenetic effects (i.e. reduction in the amount of methyl tags on different genes) generated prior to birth may continue for several decades. Research in livestock have also shown that a mother's diet may have an impact on her offspring. For example, feeding sheep with a diet without the types of food needed to produce methyl groups contributes to offspring with altered DNA methylation patterns and with higher than normal rates of certain health problems.

Epigenetics and imprinting, why Mum and Dad genes are not always equivalent We all have 23 pairs of chromosomes in our cells. For each pair, one came from a mother and one came from a father. Therefore, we inherit one copy of each gene from each parent, and usually believe that the role of the gene does not depend from which parent it originated. Nonetheless, conditions are special with imprinted genes. For such genes, only the maternal or paternal copy of the gene is involved, while the other version stays silent. There are at least 80 imprinted genes in humans and mice, many of which are involved in embryo or placenta development. How will one copy of a gene be turned off when the other copy is turned on in the same cell? The solution to this is epigenetics. Possibly the most researched imprinted gene is the IGF2 gene (see above). A portion of IGF2 acts as a turn. Unless the DNA is methylated, the IGF2 protein may be expressed here. The transition is only methylated in Dad's variant of the gene, and only this variant is released, while the

maternal copy is quiet. The transition is believed to be set up in gametes (eggs and sperm) such that, right at the outset, the genes obtained at Mum and Dad's genes are branded individually with epigenetic tags and are thus not equal.

Imprinting and psychiatric illnesses Angelmann and Prader-Willi syndromes are two separate neurological diseases with specific signs, all attributed to the lack of part of chromosome 15. Children who inherit a copy of this abnormal chromosome experience either Angelmann or Prader-Willi syndrome, despite possessing a regular copy of the chromosome from their other parent. But how can the same mutation (loss of chromosome 15) contribute to such two separate conditions? The solution resides in the finding that this unique fragment of chromosome 15

includes a variety of genes that are imprinted such that neither the paternal or maternal variant of these genes is expressed; one of the two