Can Environment change your DNA?

tháng 9 30, 2022

Most of us are aware of our direct impact on the environment, but we may also be affected by it. We are not just discussing how tectonic activity, wildfires, and storms may harm people; we're also discussing how the environment can alter your DNA. Do you believe that it works?

For the moment, we are The Fackin' English which feels free to provide you with some information for answering the question,

"Can Environment change your DNA?"

To begin with, we first investigate what environmental variables contribute to this alteration in the first place if we are to comprehend how the environment affects specific components of our DNA.

What environmental factors affect DNA?

To clarify, it is not our DNA gene sequences that affect our environment but our gene expression. Gene expression refers to how genes function, not how genes are. In comparison, we might believe that DNA is the hardware and gene expression is the software. Software decides how that hardware operates, and the environment can affect how software programming works.

By affecting the way, molecules bind to DNA or the structure of proteins that DNA wraps around, environmental factors such as food, drugs, or exposure to toxins can cause epigenetic changes. Gene activity may slightly alter as a result of these structural alterations.

An extraordinary study of survivors of the Dutch famine during World War II, for example, has shown that the effect of epigenetic changes caused by hunger doesn't appear in the survivors' children. Still, they do in their children's children. This statement perhaps suggests the adage should not merely be, "You are what you eat," but also, "You are what your grandparents ate." Alterations in gene expression can be passed on from parent to child.

In addition, Scitable claims that temperature and light might impact humans just as easily as drugs, food, and chemicals.

We are not the only ones experiencing genetic disorders, though. Animals are equally susceptible to the effects of the environment as humans. According to Scitable, when temperatures colder or warmer, some Himalayan rabbits might experience changes in the pigmentation of their fur, skin, and eyes. These changes can happen in individuals and across generations if temperatures remain constant.

Then, the example of the way in which chemicals can change gene expression involves thalidomide, a sedative, antiemetic, and nonbarbiturate drug that was first manufactured and marketed during the mid-1950s. While thalidomide has no discernable effect on gene expression and development in healthy adults, it has a profoundly detrimental effect on developing fetuses.

After years, even though thalidomide is dangerous during embryonic development, the drug continues to be used in certain instances yet today. How interesting! For example, it has therapeutic potential in treating leprosy, and in recent years, it has also been used to treat cancers and enhance the effectiveness of cancer vaccines.

As these examples illustrate, there are many specific instances of environmental influences on gene expression. However, it is dominant to keep in mind that there is a very complex interaction between our genes and our environment that defines our phenotype and who we are.

To sum up, our world severely affects our genetic development. As climate changes grow more dangerous, living species will have to adapt physically. Those changes could affect the way we reproduce, the way we look, or the way our bodies work.

We are still concerned if the environment changes your DNA or not, we believe the answer is YES, but it does not have any apparent consequences.

Protect our environment today; our DNA genes are not preserved in need in the future.

P/S: In July, The Fackin' English had another blog with the same content. Check it out at Can Environment change your DNA?

This article provides more academic information about the research on how effected to our DNA by the environment.

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