Biology

Biology Assignment 11

1. Title: How Food Upsets Our Genes

This video is from the list of suggested videos.

1. Since, I was born premature by almost one month, my mother always states that the reason I have a weak immune system is due to that reason. I suffer from asthma since age 4, hypothyroidism since high school, outdoor allergies, and get sick at least once every winter. These are to name a few of my health conditions. These past couple years, I made big changes to try to improve my health. I exercise often, eat a balanced diet and try to remain stress free. These actions in fact have made an incredible difference in my health conditions. However, I have always wondered if food played any part in relation to genes! This video caught my eye immediately because questions about my own life popped up immediately in my head after seeing the title of the video. I am very glad it did!
2. The very main point I learned from this video is that the lifestyle you live and the food you eat has a tremendous impact on not only your genes but the genes of your next generation too. “How Food Upsets Our Genes” talks about genes in relation to many different things like food, famine, weather, hazardous chemicals, etc. The first discussion begins with a comparison of two identical twins who spent their childhood together but spent their adult life in different parts of the world, causing them to become different by looks and health. This is due to both having different diets and lifestyles. Another study was done by Dr. Tessa Rosebook who researched women who suffered the famine in the Netherlands between 1944 and 1945, where the Dutch were blocked from food supply, causing several deaths, illnesses and babies delivered with malnutrition. Dr. Rosebook’s study was directly towards the woman who were pregnant during this horrible time period. She learned that the children born during that time period grew up to have certain uncommon illnesses that none of their younger or older siblings had an case of. with further research she was able to support that the children who were exposed to famine had many health problems in comparison to children who were born in normal conditions. This and many other studies are shown in the video that show us that we pass more than just genes in generations. We also pass epigenetic information. A researcher in Denmark found after several studies that children born during winter are more likely to develop schizophrenia compared to a child born during summertime. After watching this video, I can definitely thank this video for my new knowledge regarding epigenetics and its relations to genes. I look forward to learning more about this topic!
3. Even though I learned a lot from this video, the thing I feel I learned most of what the big impact that food has on our genes on a daily basis and how many chemicals that you would never think of, can have a negative effect on you and your children in the future. An example of a chemical like this is Bisphenol A., which is a chemical found in baby bottles and many food containers.
4. My main concern from this video was learned the depth and dangers of the chemical Bisephenol A. This chemical is said by many to be harmless but after watching the extensive research done realized that this may actually be a lot more harmful than I though. Bisephenol A is a chemical that is used when making baby bottles, it is used in many food containers that are sold with food, in our phones, household items, and more! Researchers found that this chemical can cause young girls to hit puberty early, cause growth in the mammary gland, cause obesity and more. This chemical has been found in the blood of pregnant women and babies as well. I would want to learn more about this chemical and watch out for it when I am shopping from now on.
5. My favorite part of this video was learning about food and it’s affect on our bodies and genes. I also liked how they showed many skinny models who can end up having malnutrition, bulimia and more. It got me to see that starving yourself is not a solutions it is better to be healthy rather than skinny.
6. This video was very interesting and in complete relation to this course. I would definitely recommend it to another student and plan to show this to my family as well.