Our Genes are what makes us unique and shows our different characteristics and traits, but recently the study of epigenetics has emerged with how the human develops and how it can be affected. People’s lives revolve around their environment and the experiences that they have. Although, our genes tell us what we inherited from our parents, the truth is that our genes can be mutated based on the environment that we are in and the experiences that we have. Over the years, researchers have found that epigenetics can work with our genes or against them (NOVA ScienceNOW, 2012). Epigenetics is the study of the changes in the information in your genes without being altered, but on how they are being expressed and passed down on to the coming generations. The epigenome is above the genome (Cloud, 2010). This means that it sits on top of the genome (Cloud, 2010) and it tells the genome, what information to express and what to not express, kind of like a switch that turns on and off. Additionally, epigenetics can affect our development. The epigenome tells our genes how to work, when to work and how …show more content…
For instance, epigenetic medications might succeed in treating depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Hurley, 2015). Researchers have been studying the possibility of a type of epigenetic medication that can treat different psychological disorders that other drugs have not been able to do. This is also the case for lifestyle, health, and longevity. If we are more aware of the things around our environment they can help our epigenomes to alter its genes in a way that it can be helpful to us. For example, changing our lifestyle to doing exercise, and eating well can lower our risks of having a health problem and it will increase our life