Epigenetics and modern healthcare
prevent leukaemia developing by inhibiting the methylation of certain genes to ensure correct DNA functionality. 9 As our understanding of the human epigenome increases, the prevalence of epigenetic drugs is likely to increase; studying the specific methylation patterns of patients could be used to inform their treatment and diagnosis. There are certain cancer fighting genes that are highly methylated in smokers for example while women with highly methylated PITX2 genes are more likely to develop breast cancer. 10 Specific methylation patterns could be used to identify the onset of certain diseases while better understanding of epigenetic markers at these genes could aid the development of lifesaving pharmaceutical interventions that help the body’s natural defences. Drugs could be used to deprogramme harmful genes or to promote the expression of necessary ones such as tumour suppressor genes that have been silenced by epigenetic marks. 11 However, there is so much we do not know that hinders progress towards developing these potentially revolutionary approaches to fighting disease. Designing drugs that target specific genes and don’t interfere with t he operation of beneficial ones is extremely difficult. Soon after the approval of azacytidine, a report of a similar chemical discovered hundreds of other genes could be inadvertently turned on or off by the changes in methylation patterns it triggered. 12 For all the promise of epigenetic interventions, more researchmust be carried out to ensure the avoidance of disastrous side effects. Despite the inevitable hurdles in developing epigenetic drugs, the lessons learned from this science can be applied to all of us as individuals as well as to broader society. These discoveries have the potential to empower us as we learn that, despite whatever genes we have inherited, they do not have to define us and our ability to control their impact through our lifestyle choices will only increase as our understanding of epigenetics develops. Randy Jirtle, one of the leading biologists in the agouti mice study, explained how ‘Epigenetics is proving we have some responsibility for the integrity of our genome . . . Before, genes predetermined outcomes. Now everything we do — everything we eat or smoke — can affect our gene expression and that of future generations. Epigenetics introduces the concept of free will into our idea of genetics.’ 13 For example, although there are links between the FTO gene and obesity that people cannot control, the expression of this gene can actively be dampened by a non- sedentary lifestyle. The lifestyle choices we make don’t just affect us on the surface level, they can also help us fundamentally alter our biology, enabling us to rewrite family histories and amend genetic predispositions for conditions that would otherwise have debilitating consequences. Our growing knowledge of epigenetics is transforming the modern understanding of biochemistry and genetics and has the power to revolutionize modern healthcare. Knowing that environmental conditions can directly affect how different genes are expressed has already changed the way scientists are fighting diseases and as we better understand how these epigenetic processes occur and learn to manipulate this knowledge, we will be able to shape our own health at a genetic level, gaining better control of our own genomes.
9 Moalem 2007: 182. 10 Ibid.: 172. 11 Griffins 2012. 12 Moalem 2007: 183. 13 Watters 2006.
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