Beyond Genetics Video Flashcards
What was the traditional view of genetics (i.e. how were we defined by our parents)?
That our parents gave us instructions through our DNA. —The genetic instructions to make proteins, that make and maintain you.— Half from your mother and a half from your father.
And this DNA Is responsible for making you, you. Such as being tall or short, dark or fair, etc.
Or
The central dogma
Genetic information is in coded in the cell’s DNA, the DNA is transcribed into small portable RNA messages, this is then translated to make proteins, the building blocks of life. And this process is called gene expression. 
Or that 
We are our genes and that we inherit traits that Effectively define us from our parents “oh well it’s just in my genes to be this way” 
What was the hope for the human genome project?
That if you were able to understand the sequences in the genes that comprise the human genome, you can start to make inroads into understanding how a Variety of different diseases have genetic underpinnings.
It’s basically figure out how to stop diseases or to cure them.
Identify the three surprises with the human genome project
•Expectation was that we had 100,000 genes that encode for protein when in fact we had 25,000. 
•Only 2-3% of the active genes produce proteins, make up our genome. The rest seem to be junk “DNA”.
•It didn’t revolutionize treatment for disease
Traditionally, genetical (identical) twins have been used to show the power of genes. Briefly explain how genetical twins are not always the same.
Physical and behavioural differences tend to increase with age. And there are significant health Variations.
Identical twins have identical genomes, however the patterns of gene expression change as they age.
DNA Methylation and histone modification explain why twins can be different. The differences in the way genes are expressed will have a bearing on cognition, as well as susceptibility to a variety of different disorders and illnesses. These epigenetic processes are responsive to environmental influences. Such as food consumption, environmental toxins, stresses, etc.
 
Define epigenetics. What two things are epigenetic studies concerned with?
The study of biological processes that change gene expression— the phenotype— without changing the underlining DNA sequence— the genotype.
DNA Methylation and histone modification.
What is an epigenetic tag
How genes can be switched on or off; that is, expressed or Silenced. And how this information may be passed onto the next generation.
And these epigenetic instructions come from Little chemical groups called epigenetic tags, That get added to the DNA and proteins surrounding it. This is how cells read genes.
Briefly describe DNA Methylation.
The addition or removal of a methol group. Which prevents gene conscription, essentially turning it off.
Briefly describe histone modification
Long coils of DNA in our cells wrap around clusters of proteins called histones. How loosely or tightly they’re wound around these histones controls how little or how much of the gene can be read and expressed.
Methylation is like a light switch off or on.
Histone modification is like dimming the light. Allowing more or less of the gene to be expressed.

Briefly sum up the Agouti mice epigenetic study
(i.e., what did the scientist do and what was the outcome)?
The mice carried a gene called agouti that makes them yellow and ravenous, obese, and prone cancer and diabetes.
The scientists wondered what would happen if they try to alter this gene Epigeneticly.
Hypothesis: The food the mother eats Is transmitted in her blood as chemical signals to her fetus, where it’s been laid down as epigenetic marks on the fetuses own genes. 
They put some of the Agouti mothers on a health kick, giving them a diet full of nutrients and waited. The mice born from these mice were brown, lean, and active, didn’t become obese and lives much longer but still had the agouti gene but it had been turned off by methylation from the diet.
Briefly sum up the historic Swedish study
(i.e. what was the scientists main question and what to key findings did he uncover)?
Wondered whether there were any differences between those who grew up in periods of feast or in virtual famine.
Compared a random sample of boys who experienced either feast or famine times when they were pre-pubescent, a crucial time for sperm development and laying down of epigenetic marks.
Found was that the boys who experienced Feast died on average six years younger than boys who experienced famine. 
Depending on whether they were overnourished or undernourished seemed to have an impact on their children and on their grandchildren in terms of how they responded to food, such as the risk of obesity and diabetes. 
Found the lifespan difference between the descendants was an incredible 32 years.
This goes against Darwinian evolution and Mendelian inheritance.
