Epigenetics & the Multigenerational Effects of Nutrition, Chemicals and Drugs — Jill Escher (AHS14)
Channel: AncestryFoundation
Date: 2014-08-11

By now most of us know gene expression can be upregulated or downregulated by molecular factors including the metabolites of drugs, chemicals and nutrition. But what are the implications of this environmentally labile landscape, not only for our somatic (body) cells, but also our germ cells, which contain our genetic and epigenetic molecules of inheritance? In this presentation by a science philanthropist (Escher Fund for Autism) who focuses on cutting-edge gene-environment interaction research, you will learn: • How genes respond to environmental cues. 
• How evolutionary concepts are broadening to include environmental responsivity of genes and the germline.
• How, from a biological point of view, the human lifecycle begins about 20-40 years before conception with the dynamic, complex, and lengthy molecular phase of germline (egg and sperm) development. 
• How, in light of the true breadth of the human lifecycle, risks of exposures are routinely underestimated. 
• How ancestral health principles are critical to reducing pervasive and serious risks, and improve health across the generations. 

The speaker, mother of two children with autism, will also share her experience as a member of the “guinea pig generation” heavily exposed in utero to novel synthetic drugs popular in the 1960s. Learn more about the work of the Escher Fund at GermlineExposures.org.

Abstracts and information about the Ancestral Health Symposium can be found at www.ancestralhealth.org/ahs14-program.