Abstract: Have you ever gotten ridiculed by a friend, or maybe a family member, for eating something not so healthy? You might have heard this phrase more than once: You are what you eat. And it’s true! Eating habits are only a portion of the gigantic pool that determines DNA and the traits passed down to offspring/upcoming generations. This is called Behavioral Epigenetics. Through either psychological, physical, or emotional changes, everything we do, we think, or even the way we act and the things we experience not only effect our DNA but also effect the DNA of future generations and their offspring, which sheds a light onto one question: Were our mothers right? Are we really what we eat?
Background:
By definition, Behavioral Epigenetics …show more content…
Figure 1 further explains this idea by showing the process in which the human brain works when preforming under behavioral epigenetics. To clarify, behavioral epigenetics can be compared to computer programming.
If hardware (offspring) was produced with its faulty parent hardware programming, then the new hardware will have the same faulty programming as the parent hardware, and all the previous coding and programming before that. Even though this new hardware was ‘reprogrammed’ when it was produced, it is still as faulty as the previous ones. Nature vs. Nurture also has a big role in behavioral epigenetics. By definition, “The nature vs. nurture debate within psychology is concerned with the extent to which particular aspects of behavior are a product of either inherited (i.e., genetic) or acquired (i.e., learned) characteristics.” There is much debate over this topic, as this area of science is relatively new and does not have full scientific data to back it …show more content…
It is a process called DNA methylation. In this process, methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule itself. The reason methylation is so significant in behavioral epigenetics is because it can change the activity of a DNA sequence without changing the sequence itself. DNA methylation is primarily used to repress gene transcription and can be used in other processes, such as aging, genomic printing, and carcinogenesis. A mutation in the DNA occurs like this: “Spontaneous deamination of 5-methylcytosinee converts it to thymine. This results in a T:G mismatch. Repair mechanisms then correct it back to the original C:G pair; alternatively, they may substitute G for A, turning the original C:G pair into an T:A pair, effectively changing a base and introducing a mutation.” (Wikipedia, 2018) DNA methylation can be most commonly found in these different sequences: CpG, CHG, or CHH. For mammals though, methylation is only found in the CpG sequence. Studies have shown that mammals that exhibit higher amounts of CpG have an increased frequency of spontaneous mutations. Classical Conditioning is also another major part that makes up behavioral epigenetics. Classical Conditioning is a theory of learning a new behavior by the process of association. (stimuli and response) This theory was proposed by John Watson who believed that speech and emotional responses were learned from this theory, but not existence of the mind or consciousness. He described
Background:
By definition, Behavioral Epigenetics …show more content…
Figure 1 further explains this idea by showing the process in which the human brain works when preforming under behavioral epigenetics. To clarify, behavioral epigenetics can be compared to computer programming.
If hardware (offspring) was produced with its faulty parent hardware programming, then the new hardware will have the same faulty programming as the parent hardware, and all the previous coding and programming before that. Even though this new hardware was ‘reprogrammed’ when it was produced, it is still as faulty as the previous ones. Nature vs. Nurture also has a big role in behavioral epigenetics. By definition, “The nature vs. nurture debate within psychology is concerned with the extent to which particular aspects of behavior are a product of either inherited (i.e., genetic) or acquired (i.e., learned) characteristics.” There is much debate over this topic, as this area of science is relatively new and does not have full scientific data to back it …show more content…
It is a process called DNA methylation. In this process, methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule itself. The reason methylation is so significant in behavioral epigenetics is because it can change the activity of a DNA sequence without changing the sequence itself. DNA methylation is primarily used to repress gene transcription and can be used in other processes, such as aging, genomic printing, and carcinogenesis. A mutation in the DNA occurs like this: “Spontaneous deamination of 5-methylcytosinee converts it to thymine. This results in a T:G mismatch. Repair mechanisms then correct it back to the original C:G pair; alternatively, they may substitute G for A, turning the original C:G pair into an T:A pair, effectively changing a base and introducing a mutation.” (Wikipedia, 2018) DNA methylation can be most commonly found in these different sequences: CpG, CHG, or CHH. For mammals though, methylation is only found in the CpG sequence. Studies have shown that mammals that exhibit higher amounts of CpG have an increased frequency of spontaneous mutations. Classical Conditioning is also another major part that makes up behavioral epigenetics. Classical Conditioning is a theory of learning a new behavior by the process of association. (stimuli and response) This theory was proposed by John Watson who believed that speech and emotional responses were learned from this theory, but not existence of the mind or consciousness. He described