Regulation of gene expression

In order for the gene to activate and synthesize a protein, the chemical messenger’s signal must be translated into information that is understandable inside the cell. It searches the nucleus for the corresponding chromosome, a separate fragment of DNA twisted into a bundle. Each of these bundles is “dressed” in a “protein shell” that acts as a filter between the information contained in the DNA and the rest of the intracellular environment of the nucleus. To get to DNA, this shell needs to be “unwrapped”. Until this happens, the DNA remains latent. When the “shell” is removed, the regulatory protein reads the gene, as a result of which it becomes activated and RNA (ribonucleic acid) is synthesized, which leaves the cell nucleus to enter the new protein according to the code that it carries. Now, the protein created by the gene can influence many different aspects of cell life.

Genes work in systemic interaction with each other. At the same time, there are many “on” or “off” genes in a cell at any given time. The combination of “switched on” genes produces the entire variety of proteins. For any disease, there are one or two genes that have a major impact on its development. Then there’s a set of genes, maybe five to ten, with an average effect of 10 or 20 percent, and hundreds of genes with even less effect.

Most people share the misconception that fate is genetically determined, and if we have inherited genes that cause heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or any other diseases, then this is inevitable. These are outdated beliefs. There are no genes for depression or alcoholism, and not every health disorder is linked to a gene. And not everyone who inherits the genes associated with the disease will certainly get it. What matters is what action we can take to signal this gene to turn on or off. The instructions contained in DNA are not an immutable pattern that cells must follow throughout their lives.

This does not happen randomly. Genes can be activated or deactivated by both internal and external factors. Studies show that about 90% of genes are involved in interacting with signals from the external environment. A new science, epigenetics, is studying inherited changes in genetic activity that occur without modifying the DNA sequence. She explains how life experience and the environment affect the activity of genes.

So, new thoughts act through the activation of new neural networks, resulting in the production of other neuropeptides and hormones that epigenetically activate genes. When the DNA in a cell receives new information, it reacts by turning on some genes and turning off others. When a gene is activated, it produces the corresponding protein. When the gene is deactivated, it no longer produces enough proteins. Other genes are activated and new proteins are produced. And we are witnessing the consequences of this in the form of physical changes in our body.