Your Environment May Change Your Genes

An anonymous reader writes "Recent experiments indicate that your environment alters your genes. The longer identical twins live apart, the more their "epigenomes" (genetic sequences that activate or suppress other genes) differ. This possibility could cause a radical shift in the assumptions of biological inheritance (namely that, with minor exceptions, an individual's genes do not change), and indicates the possibility of return of Larmarckian inheritance which had formerly been consigned to the dustbin of biology."

Comments

Genes or Jeans?

[FrontalLobe]

I'll be interested when my environment can change my jeans... I'm lazy...

Misleading headline

[Wandering Hoosier]

You've misrepresenting what the article says: Environment alters gene EXPRESSION, not genes. That makes the whole "Lamarckian" inheritance comment irrelevant, too.

Re:Misleading headline

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

Not completely irrelevant. Organisms may inherit features of the current state of gene expression from their parents. So even though the genome is unaltered by the environment, some inherited extra-genetic information is modified by the environment.

Re:Misleading headline

[Otter]

A few points:

1) The issue here is methylation and demethylation of DNA sequences, not the submitter's "genetic sequences that activate or suppress other genes".

2) Methylation patterns are heritable through mitosis, so he's not necessarily wrong to say that genes are being "changed".

3) I forget the details of methylation in embryos, but most of it is wiped out between generations. In any case, sperm and egg cells are segregated very early on, so the environment should have minimal effect on changes that get passed along to offspring. The article doesn't address the issue at all.

I applaud the submitter's enthusiasm, as well as his not putting in the usual stupid, inflammatory question at the end. ("Could epigenetics mean the end of Microsoft?") But he could have cut back on the speculation a bit...

Re:Misleading headline

[vandon]

Headline: Slashdot now banned in Kansas and Serbia!
Probably in a few other places too.

It sure does

[Apreche]

If your environment is a radioactive waste dump you can be damn sure it will change your DNA.

Re:Not actually genes are changed

[dannyitc]

I think it would be reasonable to assume the article was referring to DNA in somatic cells, as altered gene expression only has the capacity to change an organism in somatic cells, and thusly, would be the only type that would reasonably respond to envionmental pressures. My (somewhat educated) guess is that the gametes would remain untouched.

This really shouldn't come as a big surprise. Differential gene expression is one of the major unexplored areas of genomics, and we're just beginning to scratch the surface of how organisms as complex as humans can develop with a number of genes comparable to that of a roundworm. Changes in the environment controlling gene expression is something that's well documented in many different organisms.

Re:My problem with current evolutinary theory...

[orasio]

You just need to learn more statistics.
Just imagine.
10 out of 100000 organisms get a light sensor.
They are better, so they become dominant.
Of the mutant offspring, lots do have a tendency to develop more than one light sensor.
More light sensors are better than one.
Now you have a fly-like eye.
Focusing lenses are easy.
The sensor must be protected by something, because it doesn't work otherwise, and the clearer the better, and those who have better focusing clear flesh covers for their eyes, can sense better their environment, and find better partners.
What you view as a huge advantage, can be broken into lots of incremental advantages that are easily explained by evolution.
Of course, it's almost magical that evolution can happen just by birth and death.
You never stop to think that all the tasks a modern computer can perform are just the result of the arrangement of "nand" gates, but there's no magic, and we understand it, because it's simple enough to be understood.
For evolution, it has the advantage of thousands of millions of years of incremental design.

Genes altered by the environment

[TheUnknownCoder]

Genes altered by the environment:

Gene Hackman: Jailed as a teen in 1946 for stealing candy & soda pop from a convenience store now lives a wealthy life in New Mexico.
What's causing the mutation: With more than 70 movies to date, strong light sources constantly shining on his forehead can be traced as the culprit.

Demitria Gene , a.k.a. Demi Moore: From spending her minimum-wage hard-earned money with coke to earning $12,500,000 per movie and dating a kid who could be her grandson.
What's causing the mutation: Not really sure... Could be frequent exposures of her bare body to the cameras or the many plastic surgeries she had done.