Epigenetics: Railroad Switches and Burning Bridges
Telomeres - the ticking clock of cellular aging.
I’m intrigued by two things related to epigenetics:
The expression of a gene (certain cancers, for example) appears to have the ability to be switched on or off based on an environmental cue. Specifically external stress cues. (Sickness, poverty, catastrophic psychological stress, etc.)
The key to increased longevity appears to have an epigenetic foundation. Current studies show that the literal aging clock can be rolled back on mice. (Telomeres, the ends of chromosomes, shorten with every replication. Think of the length of a telomere like a cell’s clock that self-destructs when it runs out of time. With each new cell created as an organism ages, the telomere length decreases. Current research has successfully rolled back that shortening process.)
The age-old DNA question of nature vs. nurture seems to be folding in on itself.
Nurturing is nature.
Which has profound implications on how we treat each other.
Our experiences are acting on us at a genetic level.
Imagine a society in pursuit of saving one another rather than destroying one another.
We might create a world where we live to be a happy and healthy 150+ years old.