Environmental Factors and Gene Expression

1. Environmental Factors and Gene Expression

2. Environmental factors can influence the expression of certain traits • Expression refers to what we can see (what gene products are made) • Environmental factors include: • Diet • Climate (or temperature) • Chemicals! • Air, food, anything that will come into contact with you

3. Lung Cancer and Tobacco Use

4. Cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer (Center for Disease Control and Intervention) • Almost 90% of lung cancers in the US • Risk of lung cancer may be higher if a person's parents, siblings (brothers or sisters), or children have had lung cancer. • This doubles the risk!! • Habits and environment can contribute here • Also smoking? • Second-hand smoke?

5. Skin Cancer There is a link between skin cancer and sun exposure. Scientists often debate about the best way to prevent it while still getting appropriate amounts of vitamins

6. Vitamin D • Vitamin D is essential for strong bones and a healthy immune system. • It can be obtained from the sun • Some scientists believe that Vitamin D made by the body may help prevent prostate, colon, breast, and other cancers, as well as bone diseases (Skin Cancer Foundation) • Folic Acid (A B vitamin) • Eating foods with folic acid has been thought to help prevent skin cancer • Foods include romaine lettuce, spinach, asparagus, turnip greens, parsley, collard greens, broccoli, and cauliflower

7. Sun Exposure • The risk for melanoma doubles is a person has had 5 or more sunburns (Skin Cancer Foundation)

8. Diabetes • Diabetes refers to a group of diseases that affect how your body uses blood glucose, commonly called blood sugar. • If you have diabetes, no matter what type, it means you have too much glucose in your blood • either because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin

9. Diabetes • Type 1 • 10% of people • autoimmune disease in which the immune system, by mistake, attacks its own insulin-producing cells so that insufficient amounts of insulin are produced - or no insulin at all (NobelPrize.org) • Type 2 • 90 percent of diabetes cases, commonly affects patients during the second half of their lives. The cells of the body no longer react to insulin as they should.

10. Prediabetes • The vast majority of patients with type 2 diabetes initially had prediabetes. Their blood glucose levels where higher than normal, but not high enough to merit a diabetes diagnosis. The cells in the body are becoming resistant to insulin (MNT) • People with type 2 diabetes may be able to rid symptoms with a lot of exercise and strict diet

11. Insulin • The hormone insulin is a main regulator of the glucose (sugar) levels in the blood. (NobelPrize.org) • “Synthetic human insulin was the first golden molecule of the biotech industry and the direct result of recombinant DNA technology. Currently, millions of diabetics worldwide use synthetic insulin to regulate their blood sugar levels. Synthetic insulin is made in both bacteria and yeast.” • It is estimated that 1/3 of Americans born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes.

12. Genetic Links to Diabetes? • In most cases of type 1 diabetes, people need to inherit risk factors from both parents • Because most people who are at risk do not get diabetes, researchers want to find out what the environmental triggers are • More common in areas with cold weather • Viruses have been known to be triggers • Diet? American Diabetes Association

13. Genetic Links Continued… • Type 2 diabetes has a stronger link to family history and lineage than type 1, although it too depends on environmental factors. • Type 2 diabetes runs in families. In part, this tendency is due to children learning bad habits — eating a poor diet, not exercising — from their parents. But there is also a genetic basis. • Some scientists believe that a child's risk is greater when the parent with type 2 diabetes is the mother. If both you and your partner have type 2 diabetes, your child's risk is about 1 in 2. American Diabetes Association

14. PKU • Phenylketonuria • Autosomal recessive • causes an amino acid called phenylalanine to build up in your body due to a missing enzyme • Foods that contain proteins • Without the enzyme, levels of phenylalanine and two closely-related substances build up in the body. These substances are harmful to the central nervous system and cause brain damage.

15. Diet • The diet for PKU consists of a phenylalanine-free medical formula and carefully measured amounts of fruits, vegetables, bread, pasta, and cereals. Many people who follow a low phenylalanine (phe) food pattern eat special low protein breads and pastas.

17. Heart Disease • Atherosclerosis is a condition that develops when a substance called plaque builds up in the walls of the arteries. This buildup narrows the arteries, making it harder for blood to flow through. If a blood clot forms, it can stop the blood flow. This can cause a heart attack or stroke. There are many types of heart disease

18. Heart Disease and Diet • Comparisons between a diet low in saturated fats, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and the typical diet of someone living in the developed world show that in the former there is a 73% reduction in the risk of new major cardiac events

19. Heart Disease and Genetic Interactions • There are many types of inherited heart disease • Diseases that pertain to the structure of the heart and arties • People can be born with these diseases and control them with screenings, medicine, and diet