 The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Is the apple like the tree because of the nature of its seed or because of the nature or the environment they share or both? Long has been the debate of nature versus nurture trying to identify how much of what we are, what we do, how we think and what we're destined to become is programmed in our hardware and how much is learned or imposed upon us. In this talk I'll share both scientific information and then my personal application and thoughts. So while the DNA in our cells is made up of a sequence of nucleotides bound together in a twisted ladder structure, that strand is wrapped around proteins called histones. In this illustration the DNA is wound perfectly and the histones are regularly spaced. In reality the histones where the histones are placed and how tightly they are arranged can encourage or inhibit transcription of a gene. So there are tails on the histones and if those histones are methylated or I'm sorry let's talk about a c-lated first. If they are acetylated the histones will separate a bit and those genes can be accessed more easily for replication. If they are, if those tails on the histones are methylated they'll bind closer together and then those genes just aren't as accessible to be replicated or transcribed sorry. Focusing back on the DNA itself the ladder structure that can also be methylated and that will, it can essentially turn the gene off. So even though the ladder structure hasn't changed the way that the DNA functions has changed and this is called our epigenetics and it affects how our body deals with saturated fat, how well we are able to focus and how we age even. Epigenetic markers can change. As a single cell grows and splits to become the various types of cells and structures that make up a human the cells differentiate as epigenetic markers appear. A stem cell will become a heart muscle or may become a heart muscle which will have a different pattern of epigenetic markers from an icon cell. So those epigenetic markers determine its function. As cells are expressed to the environment including the mother's body new epigenetic markers are placed. Since epigenetic markers can change throughout a lifetime it may allow a person to continually adapt their gene expression to their environment. Though markers placed in early development are not as easily changed as markers placed later when a diet is deficient in vitamins that are methyl donors DNA methylation is decreased. So this is mostly our B vitamins generally. When infants are deficient in utero certain regions of the DNA are under-methylated for life. For example when a woman is deficient in folic acid during the first four to six weeks of pregnancy spina bifida can occur and this is where the the cells of the spinal cord as they develop they form it's more of a line and then it curves around and forms a spinal column and it kind of zips up at the end of its process and that zipping process doesn't happen if the mother's deficient in folic acid. And this window is the first four to six weeks of development and this is just when women are usually finding out they're pregnant and that's why we recommend folate supplements for all women who are child bearing capacity. When a woman is born she has already made all the eggs she will ever produce. Because of this what a woman eats and what she is exposed to while pregnant not only affects her daughter but also potentially her grandchildren. To start identifying factors that influence epigenetics in utero researchers looked at people who were growing in utero at the time of the Dutch hunger winter. This was 1944 to 1945 during World War II. These people have been found to be more likely to have a shorter lifespan than those who were conceived and born before or after the famine. A study published earlier this year confirmed these individuals have increased VMI, greater fasting glucose, higher serum triglycerides, and higher LDL cholesterol levels. Researchers compared the the epigenomes of these people with siblings born before or after the famine. They identified that the children that were in utero especially earlier in their development when the famine hit were more likely to have methylation at certain gene sites. These genes were known to be involved with cell growth, energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, and fat storage. Studies in smaller mammals have also shown that the influence of famine can last several generations. The diet of sperm carriers is also important. Periods of famine in boys as young as nine years old have been shown to influence the health of their offspring. Soon we may see studies coming out on the epigenetic impact of less severe yet still significant circumstances. And actually just yesterday I saw an article about the Scott and Mark Kelly. And when Scott Kelly went up into space they were taking blood samples periodically. And they discovered that after he'd been in space about nine months that he had significantly less methylation on his DNA than his brother did back home. And when he came back they discovered that they were in different sites. The methylation was about the same by that point but it was at different locations. And then after he'd been home about six months the locations of the methylation had changed more similar to what it was before. And when he was in space after those nine months the sites that were more methylated were had to do with immune and inflammation, cognitive and stress changes. And so we can see that even just those shorter changes in environment can affect how our DNA functions. Perhaps someday a sample of cells from a person will be analyzed taking into account not only a person's genetic data but their epigenetic data to calculate a more personalized ideal diet. We might have pharmaceuticals that may change the methylation pattern to optimize our health, our performance, our memory or our longevity. This will keep our DNA sequence unaltered but improve the way it is used. This would take us from looking at health as the just merely the absence of disease or deficiency and move us towards maximal health and function. More speculatively our epigenetics genetics could be manipulated to better suit us for thriving in other environments. All this is part of how our predecessors contributed to who we are and how we are contributing to our children. Neurons have another aspect to their epigenetics. The fact that information stored in the brain can outlast the environmental triggers implies that memories involve everlasting or enduring cellular changes. Epigenetic changes take place in various brain cells as memories are created and recalled. The experiences we have and the emotions we feel can make an epigenetic imprint. We not only carry the memory of people we love in our proverbial heart but also in the nucleus of our neurons. Although the man I call my father did not have any influences on the sequence of my DNA, the principles he taught, the love I have felt and the habit of closing my eyes in a grove of aspen trees, something I learned from him are forever a part of me. He has his own recollection of these events in his neurons. He is in my epigenome and I am in his. In me there is the story of my grandmother growing up on a farm in rural Utah during the Great Depression. Her diet was based on what they could raise or trade with neighbors. She developed the creativity that a company is making do with a family of nine children during this time. There is likely evidence of my mother's childhood and how it was very different from her mother's childhood. She had starched skirts, barbie dolls, casseroles, and the arrival of ethnic and fast food restaurants in Las Vegas. There's likely the story of my parents unexpectedly hitting financial hardship while I was growing inside my mother. She's told stories of having deportion or dilute milk to make it stretch until the next payday. My childhood became much more privileged. I participated in music and dance lessons and I selectively survived high school with the diet heavy and granola bars, cranberry juice, and the vitamins my mother folded into my hand as I headed out the door to early morning seminary. My neurons also carry stories of my father teaching us how to appreciate German bratwurst and mustard, materials for my science fair projects, and attempting to teach me to hunt. But let's face it, after getting bugs smashed in my face while riding on the front of the four-wheeler all day, I was much better, well I was much better at appreciating new time nap. In a grove of aspen trees we listened to the sound of the quaking leaves, a tender mercy or a tender memory for me and my father. I was higher maintenance than most of my siblings which were his children. I'm not as good with my hands, my nose was often stuck in a book, but we occasionally find common ground. My children take all this, they will carry these stories along with them. These are my fraternal twin girls and this is their maternal line. They will add to it whatever consequences follow growing inside a mother with prolonged morning sickness and who ate insane amounts of strawberries during pregnancy. After birth they will get to decide if they will eat, how much they will sleep, and eventually who they will surround themselves with. The funny thing is these decisions they make themselves will be influenced by their genetics and their epigenetics. While one twin prefers peas the others will prefer the carrots. They will add their own epigenetic stories of feast, famine, celebration, sadness, hobbies, and injuries. The people who surround them will also contribute changes, for example they adore my father. Children carry in them the stories of those who went before them and they will influence future generations before they can even comprehend that they will one day become an adult. I can't say if science will ever be able to take a brain or a couple of cells and harvest memories of one's ancestors to tell their stories, but we do carry evidence of their lifestyles and their choices. We also carry evidence of those people who are not our genetic ancestors but who have influenced us. I invite you to rethink your family history and I love what was said earlier about learning those stories and figuring out how to incorporate them into us. That has made a big difference in in my personal journey. As long as our memories live my father is a part of me and I am a part of him.