Epigenetics and the Epigenome

This is probably the most important thing you can learn in 2008.

Trying to understand DNA and genetics takes quite some time.

The good news is there is something much simpler and more important: epigenetics.

Each cell in your body has a complete copy of your DNA, but in any one cell, most of the genes are "turned off", and relatively few are "turned on". That is why your cells are different from each other. Different types of cells have different genes turned on.

A gene being "turned off" means that a small molecular tag is attached to the beginning of the gene, like a little peg, so the gene is physically blocked and is inactive. This is the subject of epigenetics.

When you are young, genes that should be turned on are turned on, and genes that should be turned off are turned off. That is why everything works properly and your risk of cancer is really low when you are young.

However, as you get older, extraneous "turn off" molecular tags are accidentally attached where they should not be, so over time, gene control becomes chaotic.

If we could remove the extraneous molecules, we would vastly drop our risk of cancer and would actually become physiologically younger.

Fortunately, this can be accomplished easily. Fasting one day a month or one day a week will turn all your cells into check-DNA-tags-and-rip-off-any-tags-that-don't-belong-there mode. That's it. On occasion, just do not eat from dinner one day to dinner the next day. Drink water, though. The effects are enormous.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=3985674

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/26/the-risks-and-rewards-of-skipping-meals/

If you don't want to do that, you can take resveratrol. Go to longevinex.com

In January 2008, a documentary called Ghost in Your Genes will become available at Amazon. It may also be rebroadcast. After you see it, you will understand why this is such a big deal.