Why Epigenetics Are So Important - Part 1
1953 was a good year for science. First, scientists discovered that DNA was the genetic material passed on from one generation to the next. And secondly, they solved the STRUCTURE of DNA (the double-helix), which gave rise to a perfect explanation about how DNA was passed from one generation to the next. Most scientists believed that DNA carried ALL the important information in a cell and it wouldn't be long before we figured out EXACTLY how the information was encoded. It was thought that sequencing our DNA would give us all the answers we needed – why people look and act differently, what causes disease, why humans are so smart, how to cure cancer, etc.
Well, it's fifty years later. We've sequenced the entire human genome. But we STILL don't know exactly why people look and act differently, what causes most diseases, why humans are smarter than other animals, and we certainly don't have a cure for cancer. What's the deal?!
Sequencing our genome led to many puzzling surprises. We hypothesized that we were the most complicated, smartest organisms on the planet because we had the most genes – NOT TRUE! In fact, we have about 25,000 genes, which puts us on par with a RICE PLANT. And guess what – a CORN PLANT HAS 15,000 MORE GENES THAN WE DO. Boy, don't you feel REAL special now? Does that mean a corn plant is more complicated and smarter than YOU are? Well, I once tried asking a corn plant about the mysteries of the universe, and frankly, I wasn't that impressed with her answers. Ha!
So what makes the difference? Why are humans more intelligent and complicated than a corn plant? Why do we have the capacity for science, art, literature, and language? There MUST be something more at work.
And there is – it's called EPIGENETICS.
Click here to read something I guarantee you won't believe at first.