March 12, 2015
Five things you wanted to know about epigenetics (But were afraid to ask)
What the heck is it, anyway? Epigenetics involves changes in how your genes work. In classical genetics, traits pass from generation to generation in DNA, the strands of genetic material that encode your genes. Scientists thought alterations to the DNA itself was the only way changes could pass on to subsequent generations. So say you lost a thumb to a angry snapping turtle: Because your DNA hasn’t changed, your children won’t be born with smaller thumbs. Classic. Things get way more complicated with epigenetics. It turns out that some inherited changes pass on even though they…
