Pros And Cons Of Epigenetics

It is said that the word epigenetic was brought by Conrad Waddington in 1942. Since before epigenesis, “the development of individual organic form to from the unformed,” brought about a controversial view. Though epigentics has helped to close the gap in nature and nurture, and control the controversy we are still kind of confused as to what epigenetics is. Throughout this essay we will find how epigenetics is helping today and what it is (Epigenetics: Fundamentals). According to the dictionary Epigenetics is, “the altering of functions without altering the DNA” (Epigenetics). In other words it refers to external modifications to DNA that turn the genes “on” or “off” yet these modifications don’t change the DNA sequence. What they change is the way those cells read the genes. It can be used to describe the study of stable long-term alterations in transcriptional potential of a cell that are not necessarily heritable. The difference between simple genetics and epigenetics is that simple genetics is based on the changes to DNA, and the changes that occur in gene expression or cellular phenotype have other causes in epigenetics (Rettner). An example of this is histone modification. What DNA wraps around so that it wouldn’t be
Therefore, these changes would have to be in the sperm or egg cells, but they would be erased when forming into a fertilized egg. This lets the fetus make its own epigenetic changes (Rettner). This process is called reprogramming. The term epigenetic has also been used in the developmental psychology to describe the result of an ongoing bi-directional interchange between heredity and the environment. Thus making the environment we live in including what we eat can affect these epigenetic changes. Making this possible that the process can be skipped and the original epigenetic changes can be passed down to the next generation (Epigenetics: