Epigenetics and Mental Health [Exclusive Case Study]
It May Not Be All In Your Mind
How are Epigenetics and Mental Health linked? Most people would have a fair understanding of genes and what they do, and maybe you know about the changes occurring at all levels of medicine since the mapping of the human genome was completed in 2003, and the great results arising from the subsequent research (think breast cancer).
Explaining Epigenetics
But in case you have not heard about epigenetics, let’s start with some basics. The prefix ‘epi’ means ‘on top of or added to’ and applies to an addition of some extra molecules to a gene, often called a tag or an SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism). These SNPs change the way that gene works or expresses itself. Since there are 3 billion genes in an individual and more than one tag can attach to a gene the number of different expressions is huge.
