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"(Producer) New clues reveal that a second "epigenetic" chemical code sits on top of our regular DNA and controls how our genes are expressed, turning them on and off with consequences for our health. While we inherit the epigenome much as we do DNA, it appears to respond far more to our environment and lifestyles. So our stress levels and what we eat, drink, and breathe may leave an enduring imprint, not just on our bodies, but on the generations to come."
"Epigenetics adds a whole new layer to genes beyond the DNA. Traditional scientific theory says that the sequence of DNA in genes, which is the basis for all of our hereditable characteristics, cannot be affected by one's actions. But the new field of epigenetics proposes a new simple but contentious idea - that genes have a 'memory', and that the lives of your grandparents - the air they breathed, the food they ate, even the things they saw - can directly affect you, decades later, despite your never experiencing these things yourself. While the conventional scientific view is that nothing an individual does in their lifetime will be biologically passed on to their children, epigenetics proposes a control system of 'switches' that turn genes on or off and suggests that things people experience - like nutrition and stress - can control these switches and cause heritable effects in humans. To many scientists, the epigenetic theory that what you do in your lifetime could in turn affect your grandchildren amounts to a heresy, calling into question the accepted view of the DNA sequence, and opening a whole new frontier in biology.--Enhance TV website."
"In a provocative report from the frontiers of biology, NOVA explores new findings that call into question the long-held belief that all inherited traits are passed on by our genes. The fast-growing field of epigenetics investigates hidden influences that could not only affect our health today but that of our descendants far into the future."@en
"(49 mins - Middle and Upper Secondary). Rated: G Published: [England] : BBC, 2005. Broadcast: SBS, 09/07/2006. Summary: Would you believe that your genes are shaped in part by your ancestors' life experiences? This documentary looks at how epigenetics, the new genetic discovery, is revealing the hidden influences upon genes that could affect every aspect of our lives. Featured in this documentary is Professor Wolf Reik, a scientist at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, who has carried out research with mice that shows that genes and the environment are not mutually exclusive but are inextricably intertwined, one affecting the other. According to this program, epigenetics research is at the forefront of a paradigm shift in scientific thinking and it will change the way the causes of disease are viewed, as well as the importance of lifestyles and family relationships. What people do no longer just affects themselves, but can determine the health of their children and grandchildren in decades to come (From SBS program guide)."
""Would you believe that your genes are shaped in part by your ancestors' life experiences? This documentary looks at how epigenetics, the new genetic discovery, is revealing the hidden influences upon genes that could affect every aspect of our lives. Epigenetics adds a whole new layer to genes beyond the DNA. It proposes a control system of 'switches' that turn genes on or off - and suggests that things people experience, like nutrition and stress, can control these switches and cause heritable effects in humans. At the heart of this new field is a simple but contentious idea - that genes have a 'memory'." -- SBS TV website."
""What if our hereditary characteristics were not simply the product of our genetic code - but of the way our parents and grandparents lived their lives? 200 years age, Jean-Baptiste Lemarck theorised this very concept. But the discovery of DNA firmly discredited his ideas. Scientists accepted that change is accidental and random and merely selected by the environment - not affected by it. But now, a handful of experts are daring to challenge this orthodoxy and allowing Lemarck's idea to surface once again. Could our legacy to subsequent generations be far greater than once imagined?"--Container."
"Examines the emerging science of epigenetics, which studies biological heredity unrelated to DNA sequencing. Suggests that genes have a memory and that things people experience, like nutrition and stress, cause heritable effects. With commentary from leading scientists in the field - including geneticist Marcus Pembrey, among the first to observe that dietary stress can produce health problems two generations later - the program explores a wide variety of clinical evidence for epigenetic inheritance. An experiment focusing on children born shortly after 9/11 evokes the new discipline's powerful implications."
"Looks at the new field of epigenetics, which proposes a control system of 'switches' capable of turning human genes on or off and suggests that genes have a memory and that things people experience, like nutrition and stress, cause heritable effects."
""Biology stands on the brink of a shift in the understanding of inheritance. The discovery of epigenetics hidden influences upon the genes could affect every aspect of our lives. At the heart of this new field is a simple but contentious idea that genes have a 'memory'. That the lives of your grandparents the air they breathed, the food they ate, even the things they saw can directly affect you, decades later, despite your never experiencing these things yourself. And that what you do in your lifetime could in turn affect your grandchildren. The conventional view is that DNA carries all our heritable information and that nothing an individual does in their lifetime will be biologically passed to their children. To many scientists, epigenetics amounts to a heresy, calling into question the accepted view of the DNA sequence a cornerstone on which modern biology sits. Epigenetics adds a whole new layer to genes beyond the DNA. It proposes a control system of 'switches' that turn genes on or off and suggests that things people experience, like nutrition and stress, can control these switches and cause heritable effects in humans. In a remote town in northern Sweden there is evidence for this radical idea."@en