Beware the pseudo gene genies | Science | The Guardian

My introduction to the "field" of epigenetics came three years ago when I viewed Bruce Lipton's "The New Biology - Where Mind and Matter Meet".  A video presentation based off his book of the same name.

"The Biology of Belief is a groundbreaking work in the field of New Biology. Author Dr. Bruce Lipton is a former medical school professor and research scientist. His experiments, and that of other leading edge scientists, have examined in great detail the processes by which cells receive information. The implications of this research radically change our understanding of life. It shows that genes and DNA do not control our biology; that instead DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts. Dr. Lipton's profoundly hopeful synthesis of the latest and best research in cell biology and quantum physics is being hailed as a major breakthrough showing that our bodies can be changed as we retrain our thinking."

Filled with the standard woo, I was able to pull some of his basic points from the presentation:

• Genetic Determinism is not true, it is an outdated assumption.
• LIFE = PROTEIN MOVEMENT
• Genes do not cause anything. They are simply the blueprints. Genes are just a potential. It is not under the control of the genes as to whether or not they get selected. We are controlled by perception not by genes.
• WE ARE CONTROLLED BY OUR BELIEFS!
• It is our beliefs that adjust our physiology.
• It is our beliefs that adjust the selection of genes.
• Genes and DNA do not control our biology; that instead DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts.
• Lipton explains in layman’s terms scientific principles how the body’s cells react either positively or negatively to the mind’s perception of the environment.

So, over the course of the next few years I have watched to see what may or may not transpire.  In other words, is this a legitimate field of science being hijacked, like that of quantum physics (ie Deepak Chopra)?  Over the course of the next few years I have attempted to come to a layman's understanding of the "real" science and its implications but alas I still have to rely on the smart people to explain it.

As David Gorski notes, "epigenetics is the study of heritable traits that do not depend upon the primary sequence of DNA."  Citing PZ Myers, "this definition is unsatisfactory in that it is rather vague, which is perhaps why quacks have such an easy time abusing concepts in epigenetics,,,.  The term 'epigenetics' basically 'includes everything. Gene regulation, physiological adaptation, disease responses…they all fall into the catch-all of epigenetics.'"  Continuing,   "epigenetic modifications can be viewed as mechanisms that can ensure accurate transmission of chromatin states and gene expression profiles over generations. We now recognize many epigenetic processes and mechanisms that can regulate the expression of genes, and their number seems to grow every year. It’s become a hideously complex field."

Another way to look at it, maybe a bit simpler, epigentics refers to external modifications to DNA that turn genes "on" or "off." These modifications do not change the DNA sequence, but instead, they affect how cells "read" genes.  Epigenetics are tweaks to the expression of genes in response to environmental factors.

Epigentics is a "real" field of study within genetics.  And, yes, it has been glommed onto by woo-meisters. So, with the current article landing in my lap, it rekindled my interest in whether epigenetics was a real science or not and how exactly is it being hijacked.  Along with that, how to combat it as it is used on many levels of woo.

There seems to be two hijack points noted by not only Rutherford, but David Gorski and Steven Novella.  Point one being, as Gorski puts it, a "fatal flaw" in Darwin's theory.  The resurgence of Lamarckian evolution (or neo-Lemarckian evolution); in other words, epigenetics is to be the “death knell of Darwin”:

If the changes are permanent, then we’ve got big news. But given that in mice they have at best only lasted a few generations, the effects are intriguing but not revolutionary. Creationists cite epigenetics to assert that Darwin was wrong, and that epigenetics may show Lamarckian evolution – that is, acquired during life. It doesn’t, as the changes do not alter the DNA sequence on which natural selection acts. Even if one day we did show that epigenetic tags were permanently heritable, it would still only be a drop in the evolutionary ocean. Show me one robust example, and I’ll show you a billion that are straight-up Darwinian.

The second point where the field of epigenetics is hijacked is none other than woo-woo medicine.  Better known as alt-med or the gussied up term of Complementary and Alternative Medicine; now prettied up even more as Integrative Medicine.  As Gorski notes, "the same sorts of arguments [used to argue against Darwin] are being made for epigenetic modifications as a “mechanism” through which various CAM modalities “work”,,,.   To boil it down, CAM advocates look to epigenetics as basically magic, a way that you—yes, you!—can reprogram your very own DNA (and all without Toby Alexander and the need to mess with all those messy etheric strands of DNA) and thereby heal yourself of almost anything or even render yourself basically immune to nearly every disease that plagues modern humans."

Keep in mind, that by definition, CAM "treatments are those that are not part of the science-based healthcare system, and are not clearly backed by scientific evidence." And why as Gorski explains. "that the quacks take [epigenetics] beyond hype into magical thinking."

New age gurus such as Deepak Chopra cite epigenetics as a way of changing your life, under the false supposition that genes are destiny, and epigenetic changes brought on by lifestyle choices such as meditation “allows us almost unlimited influence on our fate”. Well, no: that sandwich you just ate has changed the expression of your genes too. Even the few inherited epigenetic changes we observe are not very predictable, let alone predictably positive. The Överkalix grandsons lived longer if their grandfathers lived through famine. But the granddaughters of women who had survived fallow seasons had lower life expectancy. Conclusion? Much more work needed.

Just as Gorski and many others have concluded, Rutherford ends on this point,

Epigenetics is fascinating but still in its infancy. It’s not heretical, it won’t upend Darwin, or give you supernatural powers, but it is a necessary pursuit in our never-ending quest to unpick the inscrutableness of being. More, unhyped, work is needed, and mystical thinking is never welcome round these here parts.

Just like any science, it is fascinating but, it is no "some sort of magical panacea that will overcome our genetic predispositions"

Beware the pseudo gene genies | Science | The Guardian