Genetic And Epigenetic Profiles Of The Aged Healthy May Offer Clues To Long Life

Is There A Fountain Of Youth In Our DNA by Brian Alexander.  Technology Review.  April 21, 2016

Indications That Stress May Be Inherited; Parenting Styles Shown To Not Explain Everything

Inheriting Stress by Inna Gaisler-Salomon.  The New York Times.  March 7, 2014.

Experiment with rats indicate that offspring may have "inherited" the effect of their mothers' stress.

Environment and Lifestyle Induced Changes In DNA Linked To Type 2 Diabetes

Epigenetic Changes Could Explain Type 2 Diabetes.  Science Daily.  March 7, 2014.

Reduction in the production of insulin could be the result of these epigenetic changes.

First Steps Toward An Epigenetic Clock To Measure Biological Aging Instead Of Mere Chronological Aging

Scientists Discover New Biological Clock With Age-Measuring Potential  by Melanie Haiken.  Forbes.  October 21, 2013.

(1)  This "epigenetic clock" measures the natural process by which _________________________.

(2)  Women's breast tissues _______________________.

(3)  The researchers believe that they have produced a "first-ever _________________ across most tissues and cell types."

(4)  Another method of age prediction is based upon __________ length.

(5)  Comparing the ages of different tissues and organs in the same individual could spur a search for an __________________.

The Past Is In Our Bodies, Always

Trait Vs. Fate by Dan Hurley.  Discover.  May 2013.  Available at newstand and by subscription.

The article explores the insights of behavioral epigenetic according to which "traumatic experiences in our past, or in our recent ancestors' past leave molecular scars adhering to our DNA.   Through the adherence of a methyl group to genes, our experiences and those of our fore.

Stress, Environment, Genetic Proclivity, Brain Chemistry Combine In Mental Illness

Genes and Environment Combine To Bring On Mental Illness by Jenny Marder.  January 23, 2013.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Schizophrenia Center have shown, using mice as a model, that stress during adolescence influences the function of a gene known to increase at greater risk  for developing several types of mental illness.  Stress plus the mutated gene DISC1 was shown to produce depression and vulnerability to mental illness beyond adolescence to adulthood.  The research team also found a relationship in the "mentally ill" mice between elevated cortisol and low levels of dopamine.  Interestingly, the team found that RU486, the so-called abortion pill, blocks the effects of the cortisol and prevents the drop in dopamine.  

What Triggers Genes Increasing Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Study Finds How Genes That Cause Illness Work by Gina Kolata.  The New York Times.  January 20, 2013.

Researchers have found four chemical tags in a cluster of genes that controls the immune response know to affect rik of rheumatoid arthritis.  Gene C6orf10