Climate Change & Our Children.
Can Lifestyle Choices and Changing Climate Affect our Children and their Children?
Walking Thought.
Millions homeless Portugal floods, Historical floods in Eastern Australia, Drought in California, Climate change’s extreme events are physically impacting land we live in.
We read about extinctions from urbanisation and habitat loss as humans expand because plants and animals can neither evolve nor adapt to rapid change, What about us?
Walking thoughts, Do we need to evolve and adapt to climate change? Is climate change affecting humans adversely and do these effects get inherited by our children?
How does Inheritance work? What is My Genome?
Genome is operating manual containing instructions that help us develop from single cell into us, Guides our growth, Helps organs do their jobs and repairs itself, It’s unique to each and every one of us, Instructions inherited from parents.
Genome’s instructions contained in DNA, Language of DNA contains information needed to build entire body.
How are Genetic Instructions Followed?
Implementing DNA’s instructions is called gene expression, It’s fundamental for observable traits like blue eyes to be produced from DNA instructions.
Gene expression process done by epigenome, Collection of chemical compounds that tell genome what to do with its instructions, These chemicals attach to DNA turning genes on or off, On means follow gene’s instructions, Off means ignore, Chemical attaching is called “marking”.
Epigenetic Inheritance
Marking doesn’t change DNA sequence, Just changes use of DNA’s instructions, Marks sometimes passed from cell to cell as cells divide, Experiments show marks can be passed down from current generation to next, Called epigenetic inheritance.
Fast Evolution?
Epigenetic inheritance adds another perspective to concept of evolution, Under evolution genome changes slowly by processes of random mutation and natural selection, Takes generations for genetic traits to become common in populations.
Epigenome can change rapidly in response to signals from environment and in many individuals all at once, Some effects from parents’ experiences may pass to future generations.
Epigenome remains flexible as environmental conditions change, Epigenetic inheritance may allow organism to continually adjust its gene expression to fit its environment without changing its DNA.
Environmental and Lifestyle Choices
Early days, Investigations have examined relationship between epigenetic marks and factors like environment and lifestyle choices including nutrition and behavior stress and physical activity working habits and smoking not to mention alcohol consumption.
Factors can expose us to pressures that prompt chemical responses which often lead to changes in epigenome sometimes damaging.
Ability of epigenome to Adjust to pressures of life appears required for normal human health.
Looking at downside, Suppose conditions confronting child are different than anticipated through epigenetic changes in parents, Child would be mismatched with environment and made vulnerable to change.
How Important is Time?
How long is exposure necessary to trigger epigenetic process?
Sources I’ve read highlight stress as important triggering factor, What about extreme events like earthquakes where stress experienced in aftermath?
Given early stage of epigenetic research I found it hard to pin down findings that can be put to practical effect.
Nonetheless, I take this as warning, Bit like being told “if you stick your hand in fire you will be burned”, I don’t ask how hot nor how long my exposure. Instead I’m very careful around fires.
Final Thoughts
Our ability to cope and adapt to mitigate climate change rests on health.
If healthy we can think make decisions and act to influence Gaia’s ability to support our continued life on Earth.
Epigenetics serves as warning that poor lifestyle choices and exposure to environmental risks can impact our descendants’ ability to continue our task of reestablishing Gaia’s balance.
Epigenetic inheritance means we must adopt healthy lifestyle over multiple generations, Working together gives us chance of surviving coming onslaught.
Blessed be.
