me Don't blame your genes...change them!

By JEROME BURNE Last updated at 11:55 AM on 30th March 2010 A family is crowding round the new-born baby; mother is smiling but exhausted. Someone says: 'He's got his mum's eyes.' Another chips in: 'Look at those legs - he's going to be a rugby player like his dad.' As the baby grows, signs of intelligence will be linked to a clever parent or relative; musical or sporting ability likewise. How talented we are, how likely we are to develop diseases such as diabetes or alzheimer's, even whether we have a sunny or a gloomy nature, are all heavily influenced by our genes. Or are they? Among the most radical and surprising findings of genetic research is the idea that genes aren't fixed and set at the moment of conception, like cards in a hand of poker. Instead, most genes come with dimmer switches attached. We have been far too ready to explain mental abilities such as IQ and musical ability simply in terms of having the right genes Manipulating these switches can increase the effect of a gene, damp it down or turn it off. And these switches, it seems, can be affected by everything we do, from how we are parented to what we eat and how much stress we experience. Nature/Nurture..the truth is out..ref: Rupert Sheldrake (Presence of the Past) who definitively challenged Mendelism One of the most fascinating of the new findings is how little brainpower really is down to genes. A book published this week, the Genius In all Of Us, suggests we have been far too ready to explain mental abilities such as IQ and musical ability simply in terms of having the right genes. 'That's not to say there aren't important genetic differences between us,' says author David Shenk. ' But research suggests most of us do not come near to tapping our potential, whether it's intellectual or sporting, until we've spent a vast amount of time working on it.' His message is one that pushy parents are going to love: he believes families, schools and society could do a great deal more to encourage children to make more of their abilities. 'IQ scores can be altered if people get the right push,' he says. So, what kinds of things can push our genes in the right or wrong direction? As well as positive or negative forms of teaching, they include diet, exercise, stress, tobacco, pesticides and chemicals. And it's not just brain power that is open to the effects of lifestyle and behaviour. We have the possibility of switching on or off genes linked with obesity and disease. A clue for our Livelihoods programmes For instance, omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish affect more than 100 genes, while a diet high in carbohydrate turns on genes linked to inflammation, according to a new study. a diet containing more fat and protein doesn't. (They need more work on this I think the researcher likes his French fries, olive oil and omlettes 10% fat & protein is the latest indication of optimising positive gene potential) Food high in fat and sugar hits you with a double whammy. Not only does it provide lots of calories to be stored as fat, it changes the way genes involved with fat storage work so you store more than you would otherwise. (But who wants to store fat? simply utilise it storing fat mentality is a siege mentality.)

Lifestyle can affect genes linked to Alzheimer's. One of the biggest mysteries is why some people have the plaques and tangles in their brain that are signs of the disease, yet do not suffer any mental or emotional effects. Dr David Bennett, director of the alzheimer's centre at Rush University Medical Centre, Chicago, thinks he knows the answer. He's been studying the genes of people whose brains at postmortem showed plaques and tangles. 'We found that those who didn't suffer the symptoms of alzheimer's had a different pattern in the switches on key genes.' And they found something else. Most of those with no symptoms kept their minds alert and active. (And free of excess fats and proteinsays the LATEST research) 'It's probably true that whether you develop these plaques and tangles depends on your genes. But whether they cause symptoms such as memory loss and anxiety depends on how your experiences have made changes to the switches on them.'

It doesn't point to a cure, but does explain why lifestyle works.

Scientists have long known there had to be something that could turn genes on and off. Every cell in your body contains all your genes (DNA), but you don't want those with instructions for making teeth at work in liver cells, so large chunks of your genetic code are turned off. There are times when genes need to become active - to repair an injury or during pregnancy. That brings a stream of resting genes on line. The technical term for the dimmer switches is epigenetics - 'epi' meaning 'above' or 'on top of'. 'when growing as a baby in the womb, epigenetic changes in both directions are happening at a furious rate,' says Richard Festenstein, professor of molecular medicine at Imperial College, London. 'Soon after conception, embryonic stem cells develop that can turn into any one of the hundreds of different types of cell that make up the body. Epigenetics make sure only the genes needed for each type become active at the right time. So a lot have to be turned off.' why has epigenetics become a hot topic? 'It's partly because techniques have been developed that allow us to spot which genes have had their settings changed,' says Professor Festenstein. But while epigenetics brings the possibility of boosting IQ with positive psychology, negative experiences can have a damaging effect on gene settings. Dr Jonathan Mill, of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, points out that just before and after birth is a time when genes are vulnerable. 'Animal studies tell us that mothers exposed to alcohol, stress, smoking and a poor diet around the time of birth can have offspring with epigenetic changes to genes in their brains,' he says. 'This could put them at more risk for disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression and addiction. But not all epigenetic changes have negative consequences. The offspring of good rat mothers have many positive changes.' Discovering how effectively to control and manipulate these epigenetic changes promises to transform medicine. The first disease to benefit is cancer. 'Some tumours can contain damaging epigenetic changes,' says Professor Festenstein. 'The idea is to change them with drugs. For instance, genes whose job it is to suppress tumours are often turned off in tumours.' There are drugs being developed to turn these genes back on. But best we have a society that understands that from womb onwards we can create conditions that do not turn on negative traits like cancer.The the drugs are obsolete Remarkably, the biggest effect epigenetics has may be on the next generation. The gene switches you've had tweaked by stress, mother love or a low carbohydrate diet may affect your children.

Last year, researchers at tufts University in Massachusetts showed that giving mice toys and attention improved their memory. When those rats mated with others who had also been in the 'enriched environment', their offspring were brighter, even if they were brought up in regular cages. If we turn out to react in the same way, there will be excitement in the delivery room to see if the gene changes achieved by dad's long hours of study have made it through, but also worry that those passed on from mother's anxiety attacks did, too. The implications of all this for agriculture is enormous plants similarly develop according to environmental conditions when nurtured in a good composted soil the genes that handle disease threats are activatedCabbages for example that can wrd off diamond back moth attack Ones that are sprayed dozens of times in a growing cycle become dumb and unresponsive. GM technology is flawed in that it is founded on the false assumption that genes are determinants they are not. Modern day genetic engineering is founded on 19th century research it is fundamentally flawed. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1262154/Dont-blame-genes-change-them.html#ixzz0jj0IfVL6