Natural medicine understands the fallacy of strict and linear genetic determinism and utilizes the fact that phenotypic expression involves interactions between multiple levels [1]. Genetic essentialists ascribe to a very fatalistic view in which specific genes are unruly blamed as being solely responsible for pathologies, and individuals with shared genetic markers are grouped into excessively homogenous pools [2]. Yet the expression of our genetic blueprint is continually influenced by the foods we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, the thoughts we think, the emotions we experience, and the microbes we harbor.
Protein-coding genes, in and of themselves, simply represent instructions. The instructions that genes provide must be accessed, read, activated, and successfully employed in order for any product to be created from them. Nutrients, toxins, thoughts, emotions, and other electromagnetic radiation serve as stimuli for the turning-on and turning-off of protein-coding genes. For the construction of DNA to even take place, multiple B vitamins are needed (as well as the ribose, phosphate, and nucleobase raw materials) [3]. And vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin D, vitamin B3, vitamin B12, vitamin B9, magnesium, zinc, and selenium all play roles in stabilizing the genome [4]. Accordingly, nutrient deficiencies can strongly deter healthy genetic expression. Because of the part played by methyl donors like choline, betaine, methylated vitamin B9 (methylfolate), and methylated vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin) in the methylation of DNA, sufficient consumption of or supplementation with methyl donors may even allow for the alteration of traits or phenotypes assumed to be genetically fixed (like hair color for instance) [5]. For another example of the importance of nutrition in gene regulation, while free radicals can activate several transcription factors involved in the inflammatory response, various antioxidants can swoop in to neutralize the reactive species and turn off the genes associated with the induction of inflammation [6]. The highly refined, processed, and genetically modified foods that often make up the modern diet can easily confuse or hinder our cells' attempts to build functional proteins and carry out their specific programming. The microRNAs that we take in from consuming plant and animal foods can modulate the expression of our genes and they represent one vehicle through which communication across biological kingdoms takes place [7]. There is great variability within the human species because about 98% of our genome is comprised of non-protein-coding DNA. But the genetic modifying of foods can alter their housed microRNAs and drastically upset the normal regulation of our genes' expression [8] [9]. Note that microRNAs can be involved in many facets of human physiology such as the differentiation of stem cells, the formation of blood cells, the development of cardiac and skeletal muscle, the building of neurons, the secretion of insulin, the metabolism of cholesterol, the replication of viruses, the maintenance of cellular identity (think cancer if this gets messed up), and the responses of the immune system [10]. In closing, the future of gene therapy needn't lie in the often dangerous delivering of particular genes using viral vectors, but (in my opinion) should remain in the hands of Mother Nature who has already designed a perfect system of cross-kingdom genetic management which we can continue to exploit by consuming healthy, organic, non-GMO plant and animal foods. Have a great week! References:
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AuthorDenton Coleman is an Exercise Physiologist and Medical Researcher. Archives
October 2023
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