2.0 Epigenetics and Karma

I am fascinated by developments in the Science of Epigenetics. Here is a possible mechanism for the translation of Karma into our worldly life - through complex genetic code expressions not implicitly programmed by inheritance of traits from the parents! See, for example, the genetic karma operating within the caste structure of bees: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/sep/16/bee-study-behaviour?newsfeed=true

Any aspiring or established molecular biologist interested in pursuing this connection further, please contact me - I have plans for experimental approaches to investigate this phenomenon!
The following paragraphs are from the National Institutes of Health  (NIH) Epigenetics Program that focuses on disease that's not inherited from one's parents - Disease Karma, if you will. Is this indeed the "Great Karmic Database in the Sky"? (refer to my blog "God and the Database" )

"Epigenetics is an emerging frontier of science that involves the study of changes in the regulation of gene activity and expression that are not dependent on gene sequence. For purposes of this program, epigenetics refers to both heritable changes in gene activity and expression (in the progeny of cells or of individuals) and also stable, long-term alterations in the transcriptional potential of a cell that are not necessarily heritable. While epigenetics refers to the study of single genes or sets of genes, epigenomics refers to more global analyses of epigenetic changes across the entire genome.

The overall hypothesis is that the origins of health and susceptibility to disease are, in part, the result of epigenetic regulation of the genetic blueprint. Specifically, epigenetic mechanisms that control stem cell differentiation and organogenesis contribute to the biological response to endogenous and exogenous forms of stimuli that result in disease."

Here is a link to a more complete treatment of the subject.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK45788/#epi_sci_bkgrd.About_Epigenetics

And in today's (September 5, 2012) news:
With ENCODE, said Stamatoyannopoulos, "we're exposing previously hidden connections between diseases." ENCODE has also shown that a gene is not the simple stretch of DNA that makes a protein, as students are taught. Instead, the functional unit is an amalgam of sequences from both strands of the double helix, interleaved like two halves of a deck of cards in the hands of a Vegas dealer.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/05/usa-health-junk-dna-idINL2E8JUC4H20120905


Nature is making all of the ENCODE research freely available, at http://www.nature.com/encode/ and through an iPad app.


A Few More references :
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/health/encode-human-genome/index.html
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-09-05/genetic-circuitry-found-that-may-help-target-complex-diseases
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/07/babys-dna-constructed-before-birth/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/sep/16/bee-study-behaviour?newsfeed=true

And an interesting Blog along similar lines:
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4276&p=206729#p206729

Note: all pictures are copyright J Devasundaram. Do not use without permission and attribution.