# Article on epigenetics - Time magazine



## drownedgirl (Nov 12, 2006)

The article is called Why Genes Aren't Destiny

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1951968,00.html


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## olivia m (Jun 24, 2004)

Absolutely fascinating DG.  Thanks for sharing this.
Olivia


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## drownedgirl (Nov 12, 2006)

Interesting how the epigenetic effcts eventually fade and the genes revert to type.

My view is that as the mother, I have  a huge effect on my DE children, via womb envinment, nurture, and epigenetics too... but that's not to underestimate the effects of genes. Did the see the programme about twins that proved such persnality features as "risk taking" are more likely to be shared by identical than non-identical twins, ie to be genetically pre-determined. Fascinating.


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## drownedgirl (Nov 12, 2006)

Extract from the article

"Can epigenetic changes be permanent? Possibly, but it's important to remember that epigenetics isn't evolution. It doesn't change DNA. Epigenetic changes represent a biological response to an environmental stressor. That response can be inherited through many generations via epigenetic marks, but if you remove the environmental pressure, the epigenetic marks will eventually fade, and the DNA code will — over time — begin to revert to its original programming. That's the current thinking, anyway: that only natural selection causes permanent genetic change. 
....

....In his forthcoming book The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent and IQ Is Wrong, science writer David Shenk says epigenetics is helping usher in a "new paradigm" that "reveals how bankrupt the phrase 'nature versus nurture' really is." He calls epigenetics "perhaps the most important discovery in the science of heredity since the gene." 
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