Epigenetics are responsible for the “ghost” of the genome, enabling organisms identical by genotype to differ significantly in phenotype. It is referred to as a ghost because it was previously undetectable, and therefore mysterious. One important experiment to epigenetics involved a gene in mice that tell their body when to stop eating. In a mouse that is yellow and fat, the gene is turned off by the epigenome, whereas in a brown skinny mouse the gene is turned on. Interestingly, when the fat mouse was only allowed to eat extremely nutritional food, it bore only pups with the gene turned on. This is evidence of maternal actions affecting an offspring’s phenotype, contrary to the old belief that genes were passed down generations regardless of their health/life choices. This concept is important not only in analyzing biological properties, but also in parenthood. It we must take care of ourselves in order to keep the best interest of our children and grandchildren in mind. Therefore, the epigenome is crucial to our genome, but we still haven’t found what makes the “ghost” do what it
Epigenetics are responsible for the “ghost” of the genome, enabling organisms identical by genotype to differ significantly in phenotype. It is referred to as a ghost because it was previously undetectable, and therefore mysterious. One important experiment to epigenetics involved a gene in mice that tell their body when to stop eating. In a mouse that is yellow and fat, the gene is turned off by the epigenome, whereas in a brown skinny mouse the gene is turned on. Interestingly, when the fat mouse was only allowed to eat extremely nutritional food, it bore only pups with the gene turned on. This is evidence of maternal actions affecting an offspring’s phenotype, contrary to the old belief that genes were passed down generations regardless of their health/life choices. This concept is important not only in analyzing biological properties, but also in parenthood. It we must take care of ourselves in order to keep the best interest of our children and grandchildren in mind. Therefore, the epigenome is crucial to our genome, but we still haven’t found what makes the “ghost” do what it