Child abuse leaves lasting 'scars' on DNA - Lingering marks on DNA could amplify stress responses.

Nature News ^ | 20 February 2009 | Heidi Ledford

[Salamander]

May I please have a sheep?

[I’m evading your excellent post....LOL!]

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

great post, thanks.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Thanks for the ping. This is an important article.

Bookmark.

[Mad Dawg]

Can you support it in the style to which my sheep (when I had 'em) were accustomed? Only the finest hay, the best grains, the gentlest shearing ....

(Oh, wait! Counter transference. Dang! I got hooked again!)

[ClearCase_guy]

Apparently, the things that happen within an individual's life can affect their DNA. Maybe Lamarck wasn't so wrong!

[Salamander]

Oh, look!

A butterfly!

[countering counter transference with diversion]

;]

I have goats.

[random, semi-relevant interjection]

[Salamander]

Gosh, you’re welcome...:)

[grey_whiskers]

Are there other stressors?

Is the effect most pronounced in children, or does it affect adults?

Are there other neuro-receptors which can get methylated due to chronic stress?

(I'm thinking here of having to endure MSNBC, or getting stuck in rush hour every day...)

Cheers!

[Mad Dawg]

Okay. Rule out ADHD. refer to MD Shrink. Recommend serious drugs. (Ssk for my share.)

Goats are da BOMB! In my more psychotic moments I think of getting a couple of Nubians and milking again. They are WAY more fun than sheep.

[Salamander]

I have 2 pygmy goats.

They are SO smart it's scary....:))

This is "Baa", a wether.

This is "Spike" as a little baby

Baa was a rescue and he bonded to my geese which I thought was demeaning and pitiful for him so we bought Spike so he'd have "real goat" company.

They adore each other....:)

Baa has delusions of grandeur and fancies himself a mighty mountain goat.

Spike has delusions of being a lap dog and if I sit down anywhere near her, she will sit down by me and cuddle up companionably, with her sweet little chin resting on my shoulder.

[Obviously, I adore them]...:)

Oops! I forgot to address the ADHD.

Look!

Another butterfly!

Gotta go chase it! See ya!

....;-D

[rmh47]

Thank you. The article says “changes to their DNA”, which is not epigenetics, strictly speaking. The change described does seem to be within that realm, though, being a change in the celluar environment related to DNA expression.

Epigenetic "changes" to DNA (as I understand them, and I have no expertise in this field whatsoever) are not changes to the DNA proper, but rather changes to the way the DNA expresses itself. These changes, however, can in some cases be inherited, albeit perhaps only for a few generations. I do not know whether or not that happens in this instance. I would be doubtful.

It’s still hard to believe that high level interpretations of sensory experience, such as “abuse”, could lead to such deep chemical alterations at the celluar level.

I have no idea if the author's hypothesis is correct or not. It certainly does arouse one's curiousity.

I find the whole field of epigenetics fascinating. I wonder if all that DNA that "does nothing" has possible uses after all. One of the purported flaws in the theory of evolution cited by its more thoughtful critics is that even the billions of years available for life to evolve into its current forms is not sufficient time for the DNA to alter by way of random mutations alone. Epigenetics could refute that argument (assuming the argument has merit in the first place).

For example, suppose future humans had use for a prehensile caudal appendage. We know that some humans are born with a tail. Could environmental stresses of precisely the right type "wake up" dormant existing genes to cause embryonic humans to grow prehensile tails? Alterations of form by this mechanism would be far faster than random mutations.

It would be sort of like Mother Nature saying, "Well , we worked all this out the hard way long ago, and kept it stored in the "useless" part of your DNA just in case it might be needed again." This could "speed up" evolution enormously.

Again, I am no expert in this field. This is just speculation on my part.

[muawiyah]

Definitely not nuts at all. Epigenetic changes through methylation or some other process similar to it definitely have an impact.

When the researchers produced a correlation between birth order and homosexuality in males, they were definitely tapping into methylation.

This finding on stress is not at all surprising.

Given that methylation is inheritable it's possible that there's some process we'll eventually discover that "converts" these exterinal, or epigenitic changes, into modifications to the genes themselves creating entirely new alleles.

Guys studying this stuff have to be pole vaulting all over the lab these days.

[muawiyah]

If you managed to be among the small percentage of humans without the IlE type of antibody, the way your system combats allergens, viruses, bacteria and molds is with chronic rhinitis. I believe it's the IlG type antibody that takes up the slack.

Believe me, there are some really nasty side effects with this problem. On the other hand wounds don't swell as bad, which is good.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

If you managed to be among the small percentage of humans without the IlE type of antibody, the way your system combats allergens, viruses, bacteria and molds is with chronic rhinitis.

I think you're confusing a symptom with a cause.

[muawiyah]

It's not a "symptom" ~ there are such people. There's a test for it. If you don't have type E the other types do the job, but not quite all of it.

Chronic rhinitis then becomes part of the process ~ you secret liquids that carry the germs and other contaminants away.

BTW, you can lose your type E antibodies very easily ~