Epigenetics is the science of living DNA, charting the chemical pathways that spur DNA into action by turning genes on and off. Surprisingly, this rapidly advancing field has overturned traditional ideas about heredity, revealing that both behavior and the environment can affect the way our genes work.
Epigenetics: How Environment Changes Your Biology covers the nuts and bolts of this fascinating science in 12 in-depth, half-hour lectures, taught by noted epigeneticist, physician, and science communicator Dr. Charlotte Mykura. The course illustrates epigenetic molecules in action; the folding and twisting strands of DNA to perform biological wonders.
Lively and authoritative, Dr. Mykura explains how epigenetics is ubiquitous at the cellular level, influenced by activities like diet and lifestyle. For example, aging is largely an epigenetic phenomenon. So is our susceptibility to many diseases, as well as our body’s ability to fight infection. You learn how epigenetics is governs human X and Y chromosomes, the miraculous process of building an embryo, and the transmission of environmental experience between generations. And you investigate how epigenetics evolved in the first place and where the epigenetic universe might take us next, especially in the realm of medicine.