Based on concepts by epigenetic changecancerwould you start

Based on concepts by epigenetic change/cancer...would you start today to modify your diet so that you could live longer?

Solution

Epigenetics refres to somatically heritable changes in gene expression which occur due to chromatin structure change without altering the DNA sequence. These changes may occur due to DNA methylation, histone modifications, microRNAs or chromatin remodeling. Such changes may cause a variety of problems such as teratogenic changes (in developing embryo), aging, obesity, insulin resistance, various cardiovascular and immune diseases, neurodegenerative disorders and even cancer etc.

Changes in drugs, diet or environmental exposures affect the epigenetic modifications to a large extent. Since it is our nutrition through which metabolic pathways function; our dietary patterns may alter many epigenetic alterations. One such epigenetic modification which can change with change in diet is addition of methyl groups, which acts as epigenetic tags for silence genes. Thus diets rich in methyl-donating nutrients may rapidly alter the gene expression.Thus dietary modifications may reduce the risk of diseases related to epigenetic modifications. Studies are being conducted on epigenetic modifications impact on cancer initiation or progression.

Research is goin on to understand the influence of various diets on epigenome, especially during early development period. More evidences in the field of \'nutrigenomics\' is required to study the methylation patterns after different diets; or to develop personalized nutrition plans.