Real change happens so quickly that we often don’t notice when it occurs. The changing of seasons is a good example. Clearly, winter and spring are very different. It’s hot during the day and cold at night, but when we see spring flowers blooming along the roadside, we realize spring has arrived. We tend to think that big changes will feel different, but sometimes small signs reveal the change. For instance, when our foreheads sweat even with little movement, we recognize that the temperature is getting warmer. What changes might you not notice or recognize? Perhaps your weight? - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
After the Human Genome Project mapped our DNA, we discovered that gene expression and activation patterns can be altered and passed on to future generations without changes in sequence, a phenomenon known as epigenetics. This means that even identical twins, whose genetic information is almost 100% exact, will have different gene activation patterns based on their environment and experiences and pass on their traits to the next generation. A typical phenomenon is methylation (CH3), which is the addition of one carbon and three hydrogens to CpGs in mammalian sequences. Depending on this methylation, although someone inherits the same gene sequence, certain genetic traits can be activated or deactivated. It is also believed that a unique upbringing or education in life influences this phenomenon. Of course, as with any scientific phenomenon or technology, the cause or effect may change over time, but if there's a lesson to be learned, this is one of the most important reasons not to ...