Ghost in Your Genes Reflection - Allison Yue

Ghost in Your Genes Reflection

When people find out I am a twin, I usually get asked about how alike we are. I say that there are a lot of similarities, but we are fraternal, so there are a lot of differences too. Watching the documentary Ghost in Your Genes made me realize that even identical twins can grow up to be quite different as well. Before watching the documentary, I thought that since identical twins have the same DNA, the twins are exactly alike. However, I learned that the epigenome plays a big role in who we are. 

The epigenome is a collection of chemical compounds that modify or mark genes and turn genes on or off. In the documentary, identical twin girls looked the same, but one had severe autism due to differences in epigenetics. Identical twins are also used as an example to demonstrate how epigenetics can be connected to cancer. The article “Cancer Center of Excellence: Connecting Cancer and Epigenetics” discusses how cancer treatment resistance can be caused by epigenetic pathways. 

The part of the documentary that interested me the most was the research with mice and how stress levels fluctuated based on nurture. Mice that were less nurtured had fewer epigenetic marks silencing stress-response genes, so stress levels soared. In contrast, rats that were nurtured could handle stress better because stress-response genes were not dimmed. When the less nurtured mice were given a drug that activated epigenetic marks, the mice exhibited less anxiety and responded normally to stress. 

The research done with mice demonstrated how growing up in abusive homes can have significant impacts on people’s lives. People who have lived in an abusive household are more likely to experience PTSD, anxiety, depression, drug abuse, diabetes, and obesity. The stress hormones produced from living in harmful environments promote the development of mental health conditions and various health issues. I wanted to learn more about epigenetics and mental health, and I found an article that explained how early-life trauma, obesity, prenatal substance exposure, and environmental toxins can alter gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms like DNA methylation. Epigenetic mechanisms can increase the risk of mental health disorders. However, there is research that epidrugs may be able to reverse harmful epigenetic patterns in the future. 

With the advancement of scientific research, epigenetic therapy has been on the rise. Epigenetic therapy aims to change the instructions of cancer cells, not kill the cells. Epigenetic drugs have decreased the amount of toxic doses needed, resulting in minimal side effects, since the amount of epigenetic drugs needed to change the epigenetic patterns in cancer cells is minimal. I am excited to see how the creation of epigenetic drugs progresses and how epigenetic research can decrease the suffering of mental and physical health conditions.