The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance

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Along the way, we’ll see what a discredited evolutionary theory actually got right, discover what famine teaches us about human development, and examine the biological basis of psychological harm. I have expanded my knowledge of the subject by organising a visit to the biology research centre at the Cornwall campus of Exeter University where I shadowed a PhD student as he researched the effect of electric street lighting on moths. I learned how researchers formulate hypotheses and test them within a lab environment, which gave me an insight into the practical side of studying Biology. Reading Jerry A Coyne's 'Why Evolution Is True' provided me with an in depth understanding of how evolution happens and the evidence for it. Having a comprehensive knowledge of evolutionary mechanisms has enabled me to appreciate the diversity of life as a result of millions of years of progress. I also listen to Radio 4's 'The Life Scientific' and read the 'New Scientist' magazine; these put my studies in context and mean I can keep up with the latest in biology research. I particularly enjoyed following Shinya Mayanaka's research into pluripotent cells after first reading about his work in 'The Epigenetics Revolution' by Nessa Carey. The revolutionary nature of his findings and their implications for modern medicine are truly inspiring, and it is Biology's constantly evolving nature which makes it an exciting and relevant subject to study.

Edith Heard, the Epigenetics Revolution | CNRS News Edith Heard, the Epigenetics Revolution | CNRS News

Reading The Epigenetics Revolution was the first time I read a science book outside my school curriculum. In this book, Nessa Carey describes how the world around you can and will influence everything about the way your body works by changing your genetic material. I found this book so interesting because it made me think about genetics in a completely new way, as something changeable and constantly developing, as opposed to the rigid structure I had thought of before. Searching for how underlying biochemical mechanisms work showed me the fascinating complexity of the molecular world. I first experienced this through Plasmodium's cunning method of recombining var genes to display different proteins on host erythrocytes and avoid detection from the immune system, instantly enticing me to discover more about the hidden intricacies of life. One topic is worth highlighting in particular, as it is the subject of her second book Junk DNA: A Journey Through the Dark Matter of the Genome published three years later. We know that humans have a comparable number of genes to, say, the small soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a particularly popular model organism in biological research. But what sets us apart is the amount of DNA that we have that does not code for proteins: some 98% versus 75% for C. elegans. That’s a huge difference! For every base pair in human DNA that codes for a protein, we have 49 that do not code for a protein, whereas that little worm only has three. Initially, this genetic “dark matter” was called junk DNA, but a large portion of it is actually useful, no, vital even. “the multi-layered networks of gene regulation are a bit like that game Mousetrap: cobbled together from repurposed, multifunctional parts, and ludicrously complex” From academia to industry with Nessa Carey: Naturejobs Blog". blogs.nature.com . Retrieved 23 January 2017.But, of course, things didn’t end there. Science never stands still, and in these blinks, we follow the story of what’s been happening since June 2000. We’ll go beyond the human genome, zooming right in to focus on the new frontier of genomic research: the study of epigenetics. Expectedly, this way of thinking about biological processes has major consequences for established dichotomies of twentieth century biosciences, and in particular for the genotype/phenotype distinction (coined by Johannsen in the 1910s). In the context of the gene-centrism of the modern evolutionary synthesis, the relationship between genotype and phenotype was typically thought of as a relationship between a cause and its visible and mechanistically deduced effects, “between a plan and a product” ( Jablonka and Lamb, 2005, p. 33). In that theoretical framework the chain of causal links moved unidirectionally from the active genotype to the ‘dead-end' phenotype. In the postgenomic era, instead, the relationship between genotype and phenotype is more often represented, rather than as a linear causal chain, in terms of a “rope” ( Griesemer, 2002), a term that wishes to capture the profound intertwinement of the actual genetic material with the various layers of its phenotypic “appearance” ( Oyama et al, 2001). Surfing over this rope, epigenetics resumes its original Waddingtonian emphasis, becoming a convenient heading for the multiple strands and complex apparatus of “developmental transformations intervening between genotype and phenotype” ( Pigliucci and Muller, 2010, p. 308, our italics; see also Schlichting, and Pigliucci, 1998; Robert, 2004; Hallgrímsson and Hall, 2011). Bioscience for Industry Strategy Advisory Panel – BBSRC". Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council . Retrieved 22 January 2017. Bill Clinton, who was president when the genome was first fully sequenced, went on record to say, “Today we are learning the language in which God created life.” The UK Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury, declared, “We now have the possibility of achieving all we ever hoped for from medicine.” Big statements, from powerful men – but in hindsight, were they all that accurate? Well, perhaps not entirely. This difference between genetic makeup, known as genotype, and real-life traits like weight gain, known as phenotype, is often explained by epigenetics. So let’s slow things down a minute and take a look at what that actually means for our mice.

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I would strongly encourage anybody with an interest in biochemistry or biology to read this book as it provides a detailed, yet accessible, insight into the revolutionary new discipline of Epigenetics. Anybody interested in exploring the Nature vs. Nurture debate should also definitely read this book! Some of the concepts are challenging to grasp but that makes it even more rewarding when you come to terms with it and begin to understand the theories that underpin Epigenetics. Nightingale, Karl P. (20 November 2015). "CHAPTER 1. Epigenetics – What it is and Why it Matters". In Carey, Nessa (ed.). Epigenetics for Drug Discovery. pp.1–19. doi: 10.1039/9781782628484-00001. ISBN 978-1-84973-882-8. With expertise in the field of epigenetics and in technology transfer, she promotes the movement of scientists between academia and industry, lecturing often to school students and early career scientists. Carey writes books and articles for a scientifically interested general audience. She is the author of The Epigenetics Revolution [3] and Junk DNA: A Journey Through the Dark Matter of the Genome [4] which explore advances in the field of epigenetics and their implications for medicine. She edited Epigenetics for Drug Discovery [5] for the Royal Society of Chemistry's Drug Discovery Series. [6] Education and career [ edit ] Carey, Nessa (19 February 2015). "The epigenomics roadmap: more exciting than the Genome Project?". BBC World Service Radio . Retrieved 27 January 2017.The second, more precise and demanding meaning in molecular epigenetics involves operational definitions that are mostly negative, as in the study of “any long-term change in gene function that persists even when the initial trigger is long gone that does not involve a change in gene sequence or structure” ( McGowan and Szyf, 2010, p. 67 our italics), or of a “phenotypic variation that is not attributable to genetic variation” ( Champagne, 2010, p. 300), or of that portion of phenotypes that is transmitted though cell division or organismal reproduction but that is not encoded in DNA. In all evidence, we are still fully within the library analogy, except that now the only volumes that count are those that remain open long after the first reader is done with them. Written with much love for the field, and laced with a sense of humour and many amusing but useful analogies, Carey shows herself to be a gifted writer that can make this field accessible for readers new to the topic, while providing a level of depth and detail to satisfy an audience of fellow biologists. I have not yet read Francis’s book Epigenetics: How Environment Shapes Our Genes, published around the same time, but The Epigenetics Revolution is a superb introduction to the topic that answered many of my basic questions. The fact that it remains a useful introduction in such a fast-moving field is a huge achievement. Just as Shakespeare’s play can give rise to both traditional performances in Renaissance style, and modern interpretations like Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film, so too can a single “script” of DNA give rise to very different characteristics.

The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology Book review – The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology

Similarly, we argue that epigenomic profiles, in their expanding variety, provide the new place holders to anchor the environment to the genome and enable the attending analogic–digital translations, conceptually as much as experimentally.Carey's books and lectures explain developments in epigenetics to a scientifically interested general audience. [22] [23] [24] Carey has published over 30 peer-reviewed papers on epigenetics and other aspects of biology. She also writes in the popular press examining popular culture and media from a scientific viewpoint. [25] [26] [27] The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance [ edit ] Carey suggests that Audrey Hepburn's slight figure may be the product of epigenetic changes from wartime deprivation. Badyaev, Alexander V. (1 March 2013). "Defining Epigenetics in Deterministic Terms". BioScience. 63 (3): 224–227. doi: 10.1525/bio.2013.63.3.11. To understand this a bit more, let’s forget about Romeo and Juliet for a minute, and focus on a less appealing topic: mice – inbred lab mice, to be exact. Although I found the scientific concepts in this book quite hard at times, Carey uses great metaphors to help aid understanding, and I was amazed at how much I could get considering I had never heard of epigenetics prior to reading it, and even my genetics knowledge had been very basic. Also, because it focuses a lots on how epigenetics is responsible for well-known facts (e.g. why all tortoiseshell cats are female), it’s easier to relate to than some of the more advanced medical science and biochemistry books, which was really nice. In addition, it has great diagrams to help explain some of the more difficult ideas. E. H.: I imagine you are referring to the epidemiological study on the consequences of the famine that affected the Netherlands during the Second World War. The children, and perhaps the grandchildren, of pregnant women who at that time could not ingest more than a few calories a day for weeks on end, may now be experiencing health problems linked to a dysfunctional metabolism. According to the study, this was due to changes that affected epigenetic modifications as a result of the famine, and these may have been transmitted to the children and then the grandchildren of these malnourished women.

Epigenetics revolution : how modern biology is rewriting our Epigenetics revolution : how modern biology is rewriting our

Carey, Nessa (25 February 2015). "The Epigenetics Revolution. Part of the Brighton Science Festival". Eastbourne Sceptics in the Pub . Retrieved 27 January 2017.a b Carey, Nessa (22 January 2017). The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231530712.