I love this part:

She added: "People don’t have to run marathons to make a difference either - walking the dog or working in the garden all counts. It goes to show we’re not complete slaves to our genetic make-up and really can make a big difference to our future health by changing our behaviour."

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This is the shi[/img]t that really annoys me about genetics. It is not a predestination. Most of the time, there needs to be an environmental influence that will allow the genotype to be expressed as a phenotype. Just because the gene is there, doesn't mean it is going to be expressed. You may need a catalyst to kick start the reactions to get it to express itself.

Explain like I'm 5

just cuz the clouds are dark in the sky doesn't mean that there's going to be thunder or rain. a lot of other *kitten* needs to happen too.

But it is much more likely to rain when the clouds are dark......

STAHP BLOWING HOLES IN MY EXCUSES!!!

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This is the shi[/img]t that really annoys me about genetics. It is not a predestination. Most of the time, there needs to be an environmental influence that will allow the genotype to be expressed as a phenotype. Just because the gene is there, doesn't mean it is going to be expressed. You may need a catalyst to kick start the reactions to get it to express itself.

Explain like I'm 5

just cuz the clouds are dark in the sky doesn't mean that there's going to be thunder or rain. a lot of other *kitten* needs to happen too.

Pretty much. All genes really do is give a recipe for proteins to be made. Many of the genes we have will not be transcribed without some activation by an internal or external environmental factor. Therefore, the proteins that they syntesize will not be made, and therefore the reactions that they are part of that show up as gene expression will not be realized. In other cases, the proteins may be synthesized, but without an environmentaly factor to act with or upon they also will not ever be expressed in any visible way. However, when exposed to the necessary factors, the gene will be activated, and protein synthesis will begin, or the protein reaction will begin, and you will begin to see the gene expressed in the function of the organism. You find these types of situations quite frequently in diseases.

While a person may be genetically predisposed to have a certain disease, if they are able to avoid certain environmental factors, the disease will never be manifested. Much like my pre-diabetes. My mother has Diabetes Mellitus. The chances are very likely that the genes were passed on to me and my siblings. However, there was never any problem with any of us as far as insulin resistance, and we had our blood sugars controlled naturally through our body's chemical reactions. It wasn't until later years, when I became morbidly obese, that something in my genes was activated, and my body began to develop a resistance to insulin, and thus my blood sugar became elevated. The elevated blood sugar and obesity began to act on other genes, and a cascade of other issues began to express themselves in my body. After my doctor diagnosed me with pre-diabetes, I took my weight-loss seriously, because there is a link between obesity and diabetes. After shedding 80 pounds, I foundmy condition had nearly completely reversed. My fasting blood sugars were on the cusp of normality, and the damage to my body has stopped.

PS. I was never good at dumbing things down for my kids. I just talked to them like they were miniature adults, and taught them it was ok to ask questions about the stuff they didn't understand.