In the film, Back to the Future, Doc Brown jubilantly counsels Marty, "... your future hasn't been written yet!" Or has it? Do our genes contain our destiny?
Mmm. All of the positive thinking books in the world will not permit me to increase my height. Neither will vitamins, nor fresh fruits and vegetables. So some things such as eye color and height are dominantly determined by genetics, as explained in Nature Versus Nurture. Studies of twins have shown both perspectives - they can have similar traits when raised in separate environments. Yet they are not completely alike when raised in the same environment.
The originator of behavioral science, B.F. Skinner believed human behavior could be conditioned much like animals can be trained. Wiki reminds us of psychiatrist John Watson, who said, "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors..."
Mmm. I don't believe John Watson could have ever trained me to please Simon Cowell on American Idol.
Why Your DNA Isn't Your Destiny has an interesting alternative to both genetics and nurture. Dr. Lars Olov Bygren studied populations that had been exposed to severe famine and other environmental stress. Basically the data showed that a single winter of overeating would affect grandchildren. The Time article explains this is far faster than evolution has ever been postulated to react.
Enter epigenetics. Wiki explains that epigenetics is temporal changes in gene expression, but not the underlying DNA. As you recall, DNA expresses (catalyzes) proteins that enable or disable complex chemical reactions within our cells. Somehow cell memory has been created, and it can last for generations, but the DNA blueprint has not been permanently changed. Researchers have discovered some chemical groups that can change gene expression, and we already know that environmental factors can likewise change gene expression.
There is good news in this - it means that diseases can be treated within the cell nucleus without direct DNA manipulation. More importantly as the Time article's title indicates, we are not stuck with the outcome mapped by our DNA. Through epigenetics, we can change our future.
Quite inspiring,
I think in a sence your future is planned out for you, but it is up to you to make the ight choices for that future to come into fruitation,
Anyway, thanks for the post
Posted by: software developer | January 21, 2010 at 01:12 AM