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Demystifying DNA
Welcome to the Demystifying DNA podcast, hosted by Dr. Montgomery, a DNA expert and passionate advocate for public health and health equity. Each episode will be a captivating exploration of your DNA and its profound impact on your health, lifestyle choices, and overall well-being. Dr. Montgomery will share real-world stories, shedding light on how you can leverage your genetic blueprint to your advantage. Additionally, she will be joined by esteemed experts in the health and wellness fields, offering their invaluable insights.
Whether you're an inquisitive listener or actively seeking ways to enhance your well-being, this podcast is tailor-made for you. Join Dr. Montgomery as she demystifies the intricacies of DNA, empowering you with the knowledge to make informed decisions about your lifestyle.
Why should you tune in?
*Stay abreast of the latest breakthroughs in genetic research and discover how they can revolutionize your health.
*Benefit from practical advice provided by a DNA expert, guiding you on how to leverage your genetic information for a well-informed lifestyle.
*Be inspired by real-life stories of individuals who have transformed their lives through DNA testing.
*Embark on a journey towards positive change, cultivating a healthier and happier you.
Subscribe to the captivating Demystifying DNA podcast today and embark on an enlightening journey towards a healthier, happier you!
Demystifying DNA
Epigenetics: How Lifestyle Affects Your Genes
Embark on a journey with Host Dr. Tiffany Montgomery and Nick Cuevas as we uncover the potent influence of epigenetics on our lives, revealing how the choices we make today leave lasting imprints on our genetic material. Our latest episode peels back the layers of this complex subject, illustrating the subtle yet significant power of lifestyle over genetic destiny. We illuminate why even identical siblings (Twins) can lead profoundly unique lives, diverging in health, appearance, and behaviors. It's a conversation that promises to shift your understanding of biology and put the reins of well-being firmly in your hands.
Feel the thrill of possibility as we ponder the implications of P23 Health's innovative genetic test and discuss how epigenetic knowledge could revolutionize our approach to health. This episode isn't just about theories; it's a call to action to embrace the control we have over our genes through mindful lifestyle choices. Join us for an enlightening adventure into the heart of genetics, where science meets personal empowerment and where every listener walks away with newfound insights into the remarkable interplay between our environment and our DNA.
P23 Knowledge, access, power. P23, wellness and Understanding at your fingertips P23. And that's no cap.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:Welcome back to Demystifying DNA. I'm your host, the curious lady Dr. Tiffany Montgomery scientist, epidemiologist, ceo, sister, friend, wife, mother, you name it right. And today I'm joined by my co-host, Mr. Nick Cuevas. Nick has joined us several times before. You know him as our marketing director, the vibe behind the brand of P23 Health. Nick is a father to four beautiful girls. He is a loving son, brother, spouse, support system for many and he's taking some time out tonight to talk with us, so we want to welcome Nick.
Nick Cuevas:How you doing doctor, How's it going?
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:I'm so good. It's going great. Nick, thanks for joining us again tonight. Today's episode Epigenetics how Lifestyle Affects your Genes takes us on a journey into the fascinating world of epigenetics. We'll explore how our environment and lifestyle choices can significantly impact gene expression without altering the DNA sequence itself. From nutrition and exercise to stress management, we'll uncover the intricate ways our daily lives interact with our genetic blueprint. Join us as we decode the complex interplay between lifestyle and genetics, offering insights into how you can influence your health at a molecular level. Now, Nick.
P23 Theme Song:Yeah.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:So this is a great topic. I know it's curious and I know you have a lot of questions. I know you hate my introductions of you, but I can't just assume anybody has heard any previous episode and not really celebrate who you are and what you contribute to this conversation. So I am excited to talk to you and I want to hear your questions because it helps people understand why and how and just identify with us as people who can help guide them through this complicated topic. It's not always fun because it's so sciencey and sometimes the concepts can be very intense. But I want to take this conversation time just so that we can allow our human sides to kind of just show and we can grow together, because even when we talk I learn from you too, nick.
Nick Cuevas:Thank you. Well, this is obviously your realm, so you know you're the one that's going to be teaching me things, to be honest. But first of all, I do appreciate what you said. I want to make that clear, you making me feel really good right now. I have a ton of questions because when you came in with the introduction and the one thing that stuck with me was you said, lifestyle choices. Excuse me, how that could really alter your DNA.
P23 Theme Song:Can it really?
Nick Cuevas:alter your DNA or can it not alter your DNA? Talk to me as if I am somebody who has no idea how DNA works, just the normal common person who stumbles upon this podcast and they're wondering how the DNA can affect everything, how the stuff we do every day, the food we eat, the environment where we live in, exercise, stress and all that good stuff. How does that work?
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:All right. So I feel like you're asking a two-part question, right? So I'm going to answer the first part of your question and that's going to be what is DNA? So we're going to just talk about that a little bit and then I'm going to go into what is epigenetics and how does that relate to DNA. So for the first part of your question, I want you to imagine your body is like a big instruction manual and the manual tells it how to grow and how to work properly. What is the function going to be? In this manual there's something called DNA, which is like a super special code or recipe that makes you.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:You Now picture DNA as a long string of instructions, like a necklace made of tiny beads. These beads are called bases and they come in four different colors. Let's say red, blue, green and yellow. We're not going to get into the fancy names that they have, we're just going to keep it very simple. The order of these colors and the DNA string is like a secret code that tells your body how to do all sorts of things.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:Each person's DNA code is unique. The color order is going to be different. How their string together is going to be just so uniquely beautiful, and that is the special recipe that makes them different from everyone else. It determines things like the color of your eyes, how tall you might grow, or even what your favorite foods could be. Wow, so DNA is a secret super code that makes each person special and unique. So then you say, well, dr, what is epigenetics? And we're still imagining this big instruction book, right? So we got DNA. It tells us how to grow and work. Gotcha, in this book there are tiny bookmarks called genes, and those bookmarks, or genes, decide things like the color of your eyes or how tall you're going to be. Now, that's all in your DNA. I want you to think about epigenetics as a colorful sticky note that you're putting on some pages of this book, and the sticky notes say things like read this page a lot or don't read this page too much, right?
P23 Theme Song:Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:They don't change the words on the page, but they can decide how often the page is read. Okay, epigenetics are those sticky notes telling your body which genes to use more of or less of. It helps your body decide how to grow and function, kind of like a special set of instructions on top of the regular ones in your book. So it's like your body's way of using bookmarks and sticky notes to make sure everything that makes you you is working just right.
Nick Cuevas:Wow, that's an excellent analogy. It makes a lot more sense now. Wow, I'm just trying Right now I'm still imagining what you just said about the book, the bookmarks, all that good stuff. It makes total sense now. So I'm not going to lie when, when I think of genetics and DNA, I kind of think of them as the same thing. That's wrong.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:Well, genetics and DNA are the same thing, but remember, nick, we're talking about epigenetics. Yeah, so epigenetics is how the environment impacts your genetics, or how the environment impacts your DNA. So you're absolutely correct that genetics and DNA are the same thing, but how they're expressed is what's going to be different, right? It's why you can have two brothers or two sisters same set of genes, same gene pool, but they are not identical twins. They are not the same height, they may not have the same hair color. To be honest, they may not even have the same personality traits. And that is all because of these little bookmarks or sticky notes on our pages that say skip this page, read this more. That kind of thing.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:I have a biological brother. We have the same mother. We have the same father. I am about five six. My brother is about six five. I am not athletic at all. My brother is the extreme definition of athleticism. What happened between the two? And the answers are as simple as our manual interpreted or emphasized different pages. I love to read and write. I'm not going to say that my brother doesn't love to read and write, but I'll say he expresses that differently if he does. Okay, got you. So we have to remember that all of these things contribute to our uniqueness.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:Epigenetics, which is how the environment acts on your genes, has helped scientists answer interesting questions about our bodies. For example, some questions that we've answered why are some people taller than others? And epigenetics can give us clues about how genes related to height are being used in different people, even when they're siblings. It explains why some people grow taller than others in that same even genetic bloodline. Now we can talk about different families and we're kind of used to different families having, you know, different things happening and this family is very short and this group is very tall. We're used to those kinds of things. But if you think about it within a family where those gene pools are more similar, I think it really helps you understand and appreciate the uniqueness and the importance of epigenetics.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:Why do some people have certain diseases? Epigenetics can show us certain genes that might be turned on or turned off, which can help us understand why some people are more likely to get certain diseases. How our bodies remember things Epigenetic plays a role in how our brains remember things. It helps us to understand why some people might be better at remembering stuff than others. Why do we look like our parents. Epigenetics helps us understand how certain features like the color of our eyes or hair are passed down from our parents. And epigenetics also helps us with understanding how our body responds to what we eat. Epigenetics can show us how the food we eat might affect the instructions in our body's book. It may add some bookmarks, in some places it may remove some sticky notes, so it helps us to explain why healthy eating is so important.
Nick Cuevas:Okay, I have a question then how does that work with twins?
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:Well, that is an excellent question, but we have to be more specific. Why? Because there are different types of twins, right? You have to remember that all twins are not the same, so twins are really interesting. When it comes to DNA, there are two main types of twins that we're going to talk about today, just to keep it simple, and that's going to be identical or fraternal twins. How many eggs did they come from? Was it one monozygotic or was it two dizygotic twins, right? Was it two eggs that were fertilized or was it one egg that split? We're just going to call it in simple, layman's terms, identical twins. That's one egg. They're identical and fraternal twins. So those are two eggs. Fraternal twins are what you get when you have boy, girl twins, but also you could still have two girls or two boys, and they are not necessarily identical.
Nick Cuevas:So we have to be.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:I'm sorry.
Nick Cuevas:As far as features, you mean the way they look.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:Features, genetics. When we talk about identical twins, we are talking about identical set of genes. It is the exact same X chromosome from mom. It is the exact same X or Y chromosome from dad and mom's egg just split in half, okay, during your growth or maturation process, it is literally the exact same thing, which is why they have to be the same sex. If they are identical, that means on every chromosome, on every gene, at every focus point, those two beings are one. If it's a fraternal twin, then you're talking about a lot of instances where things could change. You've got an X from mom and you might have mom's X and mom's, dad's X in different parts of it. Okay, Same thing with dad. You could have his X or you could have his Y. One baby could have the X and be a girl. One baby could have a Y and be a boy. Genetically, biologically.
P23 Theme Song:True.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:So when we talk in the science realm about identical or fraternal twins, we're not directly talking about what they look like, but indirectly. If we're talking about identical twins, then we are talking about what they look like, because identical twins are genetically identical, which means they look exactly alike. Identical twins are gonna come from that one fertilized egg that's listened to two. It's like starting with a cookie dough ball and dividing it into two parts because they come from the same original eggs. Identical twins have almost the exact same DNA, so they look very similar, and that's where you have identical twins. Fertile twins, on the other hand, come from two separate eggs fertilized by two separate sperms. They are like having two different cookie balls and they share about half of their DNA. Just like regular siblings born at different times. They may or may not look alike, just like any other set of siblings, gotcha. So the big difference when it comes to identical fraternal twins is how many eggs were involved in the beginning.
Nick Cuevas:Hmm, that's great, that's so interesting. So they're just. I'm sure there's slight differences but their DNA for the most part is is identical. It's just like a cookie cutter, it's a copy of each other. So that explains why identical twins, they have some sort of like connection. I've seen that like on TV on reality shows that they have like a different type of a connection than a normal. You know, sister and sister, brother and brother or brother or sister. Is that? Is that all to do because of DNA and how it all is All tied together, how they're pretty much identical on all facets?
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:now, I'm not a embryologist or a twin specialist, nor am I a twin, so I would be very hesitant to get into that level of Explanation. But I have seen it, I have witnessed it. There are many twins in my family. Oh really, and there are and fun fact.
P23 Theme Song:Hmm.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:I In fact have a set of twins, so I've given birth to twins. Yeah, that's awesome.
Nick Cuevas:So you have a nice nice, you have a nice degree of understanding from this.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:I wouldn't say that much. My twins are unlike any other. I tell you. Sure, I would dare not make a generalization Twins based on those two. Yeah, they're gonna come at you after the other twin mom and dad's are going through what I'm going through. Please leave me a message in the comments for real. Let me know that we're gonna be all right.
Nick Cuevas:Got you. That's so interesting, that's so cool, though you know I didn't know that there were. I know obviously on the outside you see them they look identical obviously I mean as far as identical twins go but I didn't know that it's like down to their DNA, like all of that is pretty much the same, which is Pretty crazy. That's wild. I really didn't have any idea of that. I just thought it was more of an exterior type of a thing, but it makes sense. I mean, if they're gonna look exactly the same, even have like the same you know eye color, the their voice texture, all of those things are pretty much 99% the same. It makes sense that is down to their DNA.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:I think it's just important to understand that Epigenetics play a significant role in the development of twins Particularly, and how identical twins can exhibit different characteristics Despite having the same genetic makeup. Okay, so we talked about epigenetics and how it gives us the Code or tells us what to look at and what to skip, and those changes can be caused by mechanisms like DNA methylation or histone modification. But when we talk about twins, the impact of identical twins starts with the same genetic information. However, over time, their epigenetic patterns can diverge due to different environmental exposures, experiences and lifestyles. These changes can lead to differences in your health, your appearance and your behavior. For instance, if one twin smokes or has a significantly different diet or stress level compared to the other, these factors can cause epigenetic modifications, modifications leading to the differences in health outcomes, like the risk of certain diseases right, mm-hmm.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:Age factor. So as twins age, their epigenetic patterns tend to diverge more. This phenomenon is known as epigenetic drift, where accumulative effect of environmental factors gradually leads to more noticeable differences between them. Epigenetics is also going to play a factor or can influence disease susceptibility and explain why one twin might develop a disease like diabetes or cancer while the other does not, despite having identical genes. So we've done some studies on twins in epigenetic research, and twins, especially identical ones, are valuable in epigenetic research to understand how environmental factors contribute to diseases and traits giving their genetic similarities. Epigenetics highlights the interplay between genetics and the environment and explains why identical twins can end up having different traits and susceptibilities to disease despite sharing the same DNA.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:These are just some of the things that we have to remember when we talk about the importance of epigenetics and how important it is for us to take control of our environment, our lifestyle and our food choices. If you've heard anything today that's inspired you or made you more curious about your genetics or epigenetic controls that you can put in place to take control of your lifestyle, reach out to us. At P23 Health, we have released an exciting new test for 2024 that's going to be on our website, if it's not already where we're talking about our genetic blueprint, and I am so excited to help in this journey and be a part of this journey. Join you all in this journey as we explore how our environment and choices from diet to exercise to everything in between helps play a part in our gene and lifestyle overall health. As we come to the end of today's episode on epigenetics, I want to express my appreciation for you joining us today.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:Throughout the episode, we explored the intricate ways in which our lifestyle choices affect our genetic expression, unlocking the secrets of how we can take control of our health. We've discussed how epigenetic changes can occur as a result of environmental factors such as diet, exercise and stress, and how these changes can have a significant impact on our health outcomes. Thank you for joining us on Demystifying DNA. We encourage you to keep exploring the fascinating world of genetics and take an active role in your health and well-being. Your health is in your hands and every small effort towards a healthier lifestyle can have a significant impact in the long run. Stay curious, stay engaged and remember that we are with you every step of the way.
