Epigenetics: Nature Vs. Nurture In Mice

Epigenetics is the study of phenotypic traits caused by external or environmental factors that can switch genes on or off. This is in addition to the genetic sequence. Known/suspected causes of epigenetics are heavy metal, pesticides, diesel exhaust, tobacco smoke, hormones, radioactivity, viruses, bacteria and nutrients. The processes of epigenetics are completely natural and essential to organism functions. However if they form improperly, they can be detrimental to health and behavior. Three examples of how scientists observe epigenetics are in diet, stress, and homosexuality. In diet, there are experiments on how a parent's diet can affect the offspring in mice. All mammals have a gene called agouti. When a mouse’s gene is unmethylated, it makes the gene unstably alter genes, and makes the phenotype yellow coat and has predispositions for obesity, cancer, and diabetes. When the agouti gene is correctly methylated, the phenotype is brown coat and low disease dispositions. Fat yellow mice and skinny brown mice are genetically identical. Fat, yellow mice are physically different and have more health problems because their genes are undermethylated and mutated. When scientists fed pregnant yellow mice a more methylated diet, …show more content…
Workers bee secret a protein rich substance from the glands of their heads called royal jelly. They feed it to the larvae destined to be the next queen in large amounts. This makes the queen grow ovaries and a larger abdomen for laying eggs. She will also develop an instinct for dominance among other queens, a unique communication sound known as piping and go on mating flights. The queen is identical to the worker bees but because she’s been fed royal jelly her whole life, she will become a dominant leader. Scientists have determined that the royal jelly silences a key gene that makes all other bees the default ‘worker bee’ and turns the simple default larvae into a

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