Everywhere we turn nowadays, we see the word ‘epigenetics’, from academic journals to popular science articles to ads spruiking all sorts of miracle cures. But what is epigenetics and why is it so important to our daily health and how we age?
Before we begin learning about our epi-genetics, we need to do a quick crash course in biochemistry and get to know a little about how our genetics work – don’t turn off yet – I’ll make it easy:
- Our cells are the functional working units in every one of us. Our cells use proteins and chemical molecules to perform countless actions every second of every day. All the instructions required to direct these activities are contained in our DNA.
- Human DNA is made up of about 3 billion nucleotide bases. These bases making up our DNA are grouped into 4 fundamental types – adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T) – just keep in your mind the letters A, C, G and T.
- The sequence, or the order of these bases (A, C, G, T), is what determines our life instructions and forms our genetic ‘code’ or life instruction.
- Within those 3 billion bases we find nearly 20,000 genes. These bases and genes are in specific sequence that provide instructions on how to make important proteins – these complex proteins trigger hundreds of biological actions that then carry out all the functions that make us human and keep us alive.
Simply put – we should consider our DNA gene sequence (the A, C, G, and T’s) as a textbook or instruction manual that explains how to make a human body. These instructions are fundamental to how we live as a human and ensures we don’t grow an arm where a leg should be or allow a heart cell to become part of our hip.
A cell programmed to become a part of our liver doesn’t need to follow the same chapter of the instruction manual as a cell programmed to become part of your brain – this is where epigenetics come in to play.
Now that you understand the fundamentals of genetics, let’s learn about epigenetics.
Epigenetics affects HOW our genes (life instructions) are read. I like to use the analogy of a CD player (It was so exciting when the portable discman came out to replace the Walkman). Our genes are like the disc we put in the CD player that has the songs recorded on it. ‘Epigenetics’ is the laser-light in the CD player that reads the information or song off the disc.
Our genes are the discs containing the information and our epigenetics is the laser-light that reads or picks up the information off the disc and transmits it to the speakers so we can hear the music. The laser-light can get damaged or scratched, and it can get dust or fingerprints on it. If the laser-light cannot read the information off the disc, then the song skips or gets stuck on one part of the disc – that laser-light reader needs to be clean and scratch-free to play great music. The same applies to our cells – we need a clean and healthy epigenetics to transmit and regulate the information contained in our genes.
Here are a few important points about epigenetics -
- Our epigenetics regulate our genes by switching them on or off. Our epigenetics influence the interaction between our genes and the environment surrounding them and it helps determine which proteins get produced and sent out to do various cellular and bodily functions.
- Epigenetics are found everywhere – not just inside our cells. They are what you eat, who you interact with, when you sleep and how you exercise – all of these can eventually cause chemical modifications around and inside your cells that can turn your genes on or off over time.
- Epigenetics make us unique. We are all human but why do some of us have blonde hair or others have darker skin? Why do some of us hate the taste of tofu or mushrooms? Why are some of us sociable and others prefer their own company? It’s the combinations of genes that have been turned on or off by our epigenetic activity that make us all unique.
- Researchers are also just starting to find that epigenetics are involved in the hereditary aspects of humans – what can be passed down from generation to generation. Epigenome studies are still in their infancy and scientist are beginning to unravel this phenomenon.
- Epigenetics is reversible – as we learnt earlier, we have nearly 20,000 genes so imagine the possible combinations of genes that can be turned on or off – the numbers of possible arrangements are enormous.
If we can map all the causes that influence our genes and log all the effects of all the combinations, then we could reverse the gene’s state to keep just the good actions and eliminate the bad. Think about this - our microbiome is part of our epigenetic function – the genes of multiple species of microbes in our gut influence the activity and expression of our own genes and the microbiome in turn can be influenced by what we eat and how we exercise. This is the exciting part of epigenetic research today – these studies are having huge impacts on our understanding of how we age and helping to develop therapies and biotech to slow down the ageing process.
Below is a list of lifestyle and dietary processes that influence our epigenetics.
Epigenetics modulate our Genes
Another way to understand epigenetics is as if someone has taken a packet of highlighters and used different colours to highlight different parts of a chapter you are reading.
For example, someone might use a pink highlighter to mark parts of the chapter that needs to be read most carefully and a blue highlighter to mark parts that aren’t so important and yellow to highlight a part of the chapter to come back to later. The way you then read that textbook would be totally different than if those highlighted parts were not included and you had to read every word, every time you wanted some information. It really has simplified the process – you know the concise paragraphs to read to find the information you need.
Here’s one more explanation to simplify the very complex mechanism of epigenetics presented in Nessa Carey’s ‘Epigenetic Revolution’ –
“Think of the human lifespan as a very long movie. The cells would be the actors and actresses, essential units that make up the movie. DNA, in turn, would be the script — instructions for all the participants of the movie to perform their roles. Subsequently, the DNA ‘sequence’ would be the words on the script, and certain blocks of these words that instruct key actions or events to take place would be the genes. The concept of genetics would be like screenwriting. Follow the analogy so far? Great. The concept of epigenetics, then, would be like directing. The script can be the same, but the director can choose to eliminate or tweak certain scenes or dialogue, altering the movie for better or worse. After all, Steven Spielberg’s finished product would be drastically different than Woody Allen’s for the same movie script, wouldn’t it?”
So how does this knowledge impact our understanding and research on how we age?
Can we use this understanding of epigenetics to our advantage to slow down or even reverse ageing? The bottom line is our epigenetics are the part of our DNA that can be influenced on a day by day basis.
The diagram you looked at above lists a variety of aspects of our lives that can influence the chemicals surrounding our genes. These chemicals then change and impact our gene activity – telling them how to express themselves or can switch them on or off.
There are some amazing things listed on that diagram that we would never had considered to be part of our cells – financial status, the climate and seasons, our social status and even our internal thoughts. ANY outside stimulus has the potential to cause epigenetic modifications.
We still don’t fully understand which exposures effect which epigenetic markers or what the mechanisms or downstream effects are but here are some well-known examples of lifestyle factors that do influence our epigenetics –
- Bisphenol A (BPA) - is an additive in some plastics that has been linked to cancer and other diseases and has already been removed from consumer products in some countries. BPA seems to exert its negative effects through a number of mechanisms, including epigenetic modification.
- The beneficial effects of exercise have been known for generations, but the mechanisms are still surprisingly hazy. There’s mounting evidence that beneficial changes to the pattern of epigenetic marks in muscle and fatty tissueare involved.
- Childhood abuseand other forms of early emotional trauma also seem to affect DNA methylation patterns, which may help to explain the poor health that many victims of such abuse face throughout adulthood.
Research on the epigenome is fundamental to our understanding of how we age and how we develop chronic diseases. More understanding of our epigenetics could allow us to cure diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. It would allow us to develop strategies to slow ageing. We could stop obesity and diabetes. The list of diseases we could halt is endless.
Can we influence and improve our epigenetics right now? The answer is YES.
Several lifestyle factors have been identified that can negatively modify our epigenetic patterns:
- Being obese – maintain a healthy weight and BMI
- Minimal physical activity – try to get 10,000 steps a day
- Tobacco smoking – quit! Try to avoid second-hand smoke as well
- Excessive alcohol consumption – drink less and have more alcohol-free days
- Exposure to environmental pollutants – buy natural household products, cosmetics, and live in areas with less smog and more fresh air
- Constant psychological stress – meditate every day, calm your mind, laugh more
- Doing night shifts – look after your circadian rhythm and improve your sleep patterns
Scientists have also discovered many foods that contain compounds with the ability to improve and regulate our epigenetics. Some of the most powerful foods are:
- Catechins found in green tea
- Vitamin D (which works like a hormone rather than a vitamin)
- Resveratrol found in plants such as Polygonum and grapes
- Curcumin contained in turmeric
- Withania (or ashwagandha as it is commonly called)
- Broccoli sprouts with its sulforaphane content
- Cinnamon that mimics diabetes drugs and modifies glucose and insulin
By making our epigenetics healthier, we can truly slow down ageing and turn back our biological clock and restore our youthful vitality and glow.
Resources and References
- Cath Ennis – Occan's Corner (Science). The Guardian – Epigenetics 101: A Beginners Guide to Everything. https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/apr/25/epigenetics-beginners-guide-to-everything
- NCIB Resources – Aug 26. Epigenetics and Lifestyle – Epigenomics. 2011 Jun; 3(3): 267–277.doi: 10.2217/epi.11.22 Jorge Alejandro Alegría-Torres, Andrea Baccarelli, and Valentina Bollati https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3752894/
- On Biology. Dr. Shizhau Li, Dr. Yuanyan Li, Dr. T. Tollefsbol: The Epigenetics Diet – 20th May 2019. https://blogs.biomedcentral.com/on-biology/2019/05/20/the-epigenetics-diet-a-barrier-against-environmental-pollution/#:~:text=Tollefsbol's%20lab%20coined%20the%20term,leading%20to%20beneficial%20health%20outcomes.
- Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine Text – Dr. Brauwald, Dr. Isselbacher, Dr. Petersdorf, Dr. Wilson, Dr. Martin, Dr. Fauci. Section 1 – Genetics and Human Disease pages 285-328
- A Super Brief and Basic Explanation of Epigenetics for Total Beginners – WhatisEpigenetics, September 1, 2019. https://www.whatisepigenetics.com/what-is-epigenetics/