All INNERSTANDIN content is for educational purposes only — not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Full Disclaimer →

    BACK TO DATABASE
    TAGGED RESEARCH

    #Environment

    18TRANSMISSIONS FOUND
    D
    Scientific illustration for DNA Methylation: How Your Environment Rewrites Your Genes
    Cellular Biology
    15 MIN READ

    DNA Methylation: How Your Environment Rewrites Your Genes

    DNA methylation — the addition of a methyl group to cytosine residues in the genome by DNA methyltransferase enzymes — is the primary epigenetic mechanism by which environmental exposures, nutritional status, and psychological stress rewrite gene expression without altering the DNA sequence itself, with consequences that can persist across multiple generations through transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. Heavy metals including arsenic, cadmium, and nickel disrupt methylation patterns, silencing tumour suppressor genes and activating oncogenes; BPA and other xenoestrogens alter oestrogen-responsive gene methylation; and chronic folate or B12 deficiency depletes the methyl donor pool required to maintain appropriate methylation homeostasis. The emerging field of epigenetics fundamentally overturns the genetic determinism that has dominated medicine and absolves the pharmaceutical industry of responsibility for the chemical drivers of modern disease.

    #epigenetics#DNA methylation