Inheriting Love

The Buddha once said, "every human being is the author of his own health or disease." Perhaps he was alluding to the idea of epigenetics and neuronal plasticity thousands of years before scientists would realize it.

The study of "epigenetics" originates from the simple principle that, in nature, that which remains static finds itself short for this world. Flexibility, openness, and adaptability are the keys to happiness, health, wisdom, and survival -- the ultimate goal of life and DNA. So why does modern science continue to shout "Eureka!" when the principle of flexibility, long understood as a philosophy in Eastern cultures, holds true again and again? From the long-held assertion in neuroscience that the neurons you're born with are all you'll ever have, to the notions of permanence at the atomic level, the organic and flexible properties of nature have outwitted the most well-supported dogmas of the sciences.

In the case of epigenetics, scientists have found that our DNA, the essence of life, is not the stubborn authoritarian once believed to predetermine our likes, dislikes, and health. Instead, with "epi-" as a moniker of renunciation of that old idea of genetics, epigenetics studies how our genes can change their activity to best respond to our environments.

Our DNA, and the genes within, control everything about our biology, and this activity is measured by the presence and amount of "expression" of these genes. For example, a specific gene in our DNA determines the color of our eyes. If your mom has blue eyes and your dad has green eyes, they each give you their DNA, but the color of your eyes depends on which DNA in that gene is actually expressed. However, though our genes control everything about our biology, early geneticists overlooked the fact that we don't live in a vacuum. Our biology is also influenced by our environment -- what you ingest, what stressors you encounter, how much sun you get. These and other experiences don't necessarily add, subtract, or change the physical DNA that you get from your parents, but they can change the amount of a gene's "expression". These changes subsequently affect our biology.

Changing the amount that a gene is expressed is achieved by modulating how accessible a gene is to being expressed. A number of proteins in our bodies called "transcription factors" promote or inhibit gene expression. Using the gene on DNA as a blueprint, this machinery makes contact with the genetic material, and, through biochemical processes, makes a specific protein that will go on to serve some biological function. So how might you alter how much a gene is expressed (how much protein is made from it)? Simple. Make it easier or harder to for the machinery to make contact with the gene.

The idea that a gene can be made more or less accessible to transcription machinery is the basis of epigenetics. Genes are wrapped up in a protein called "chromatin", and particular enzymes in our bodies can either tighten or loosen this chromatin cage. The activity of these enzymes is regulated in large part by our interactions with our environments. In the brain, the activity of these enzymes is influenced by the activity of neurons. Therefore, any and all information from the outside world, or from our own thoughts or perceptions -- anything that promotes or inhibits neuronal activity -- can change how parts of our DNA are expressed.

In neuroscience, evidence continues to accumulate for the influence of epigenetic mechanisms on neurodegenerative diseases, psychiatric disorders, and neurodevelopmental diseases. In many of these cases, pathology has been linked to changes in epigenetic mechanisms. Subsequently, treatments are being researched that would alter epigenetics to promote normal functioning.

The first epigenetic discoveries were made by observing mothering behavior in rodents. Scientists observed that an animal's sensitivity to stressors in their adult life could be predicted by the amount of direct contact their mother made with them during their early life. Further research revealed that this phenomenon was mediated by the genes that control the expression of protein receptors for stress hormones. Rodents that experienced less motherly behavior in their early life developed a stress system that made them more anxious, fearful, and prone to pathology.

This becomes tremendously fascinating when one considers the downstream effects of mothering behavior. For it appears that animals "pass on" their mothering behavior. That is, animals that experienced less motherly behavior, exhibit less motherly behavior toward their own pups, therefore propagating the biological dysfunction to future generations. What this means is that our own behavior is passed on from generation to generation. Applied to the idea of culture, this heritability suggests can provide tremendous hope or despair for those of us concerned with the spiritual health of our species. Our actions today WILL affect the actions of future generations -- not just as a lesson from history, but as a biological prerogative underlying behavior. If we learn to hate and separate, those behaviors will only become more and more prevalent as our biology develops more toward those behaviors as generations pass. However, if we take a stand now, if we decide to spread love, unity, and compassion, then those aspects will continue to grow in the collective human DNA and in the collective consciousness. We must fight our own histories, our own epigenetic inheritances -- the fears, anxieties, judgments, and assumptions bestowed on us by our ancestors -- and promote love and compassion for the future of humankind.