Epigenetic therapy-- the best words in medicine since vaccine.

First, here's what the dictionary has to say:
In biology, the term epigenetic refers to changes in phenotype (appearance) or gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence.


Over the last century scientists have discovered that we share most of our genes with all other life forms on this planet. In fact, our closest relative, the chimp, has almost 99% of our genes. The remaining 1.1% account for all of the differences between humans and apes... OR SO WE THOUGHT.

Recently we have discovered that genes are only our genetic framework. The final touches to our body chemistry are environmentally derived. The things we feel and are exposed to emotionally affect who we eventually become. Epigenetics are concerned with the plethora of molecules which attach themselves to our genes. The results from these modified genes affect our looks, abilities, and lifetime health tendencies. This new science explains, for example, why identical twins aren't identical.

We now know were to look to unravel the rest of the "where do we come from" story. What a fascinating generation we are living in. Soon we will be able to zero in on and possibly reverse commonplace maladies like cancer or organ disease and failure.

One effect of these gene modifications is they are multi-generational. That is, we pass our environmentally modified genes on to our future generations based upon the dramatic events that occur to each of us during our lives.

The consequences from world traumatic events like the Holocaust will take many generations to fully manifest themselves. Scars from wars and other atrocities we afflict upon each other alter our core genetic makeup by causing some genes normally turned off to be turned on and others normally on to be turned off. These switches, from birth on, affect each one of us differently and are what really make us different from each other.

In other words, who we are is as much a result of the stresses, or happiness, or emotional content, be it nurturing or otherwise, that surrounded our parents and our grandparents during their lives as we are a result of what we eat and breathe and drink throughout our lives.

Behavioral science now has a foundation in chemistry and biology. As more sophisticated instruments are built to decipher our brain waves, clues are discovered and unraveled which have led to an understanding of the organic responses to our physical environment.
We had best get to cleaning up our act if we expect future generations to avoid our missteps.

What a brave New World we will soon live in.