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Environmental doctor Anne Marie Fine of Scottsdale, Ariz. was one of the first physicians to adopt genetic tests as part of her practice in 2002. Recently, she gave a brief introduction to the role epigenetics plays in human diversity at the 12th annual Conference on Diversity in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her paper with Donald N. Yates, "Epigenetics and the Autosomal DNA of Human Populations: Clinical Perspectives and Personal Genome Tests," should appear soon, but in the meantime you can watch a short video of her epigenetics presentation (5:37). Epigenetics is beginning to loom as a much more important factor in multigenerational health than mere genetics. We would be interested in your comments!

Genetics has transformed many of our notions of race, ethnicity and identity. How do you identify your ancestry when checking off ethnic options on an official form? How do you identify yourself informally with friends and family? Have you ever "changed" your ethnic self-identification because of a DNA test? These and related questions were the topics discussed at a 90-minute colloquium at the 12th Annual International Diversity Conference held on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, June 12. 

Photo:  Solomon Bibo is America's only recognized Jewish Indian Chief. 

The title of the public discussion was "Perspectives on Ethnic Identity:  Epigenetics, Marketing, DNA and Genealogy." It was organized by Donald Yates and moderated by Gregory Baskin. Presenters included:

Dr. Anne Marie Fine, Scottsdale, Ariz. naturopathic physician, who spoke on the emerging field of epigenetics, the multi-generational factors that "turn on and turn off" your genes.

Elizabeth Hirschman, Rutgers University, who addressed the history of anti-discrimination law in the United States, from 1790 to the present.

Wendy Roth, University of British Columbia, author of the just-published book Race Migrations: Latinos and the Cultural Transformation of Race, who presented the results of ongoing surveys of consumers of DNA testing, with an emphasis on changing notions of ethnic identification.

Donald Yates, who presented a paper on overlapping ethnic identity in Bernard Malamud's The People, George Tabori's "Weisman and Copperface:  A Jewish Western" and three early twentieth-century poets writing in Modern Hebrew, Benjamin Nahun Silkiner, Israel Efros and Ephraim E. Lisitzky. Yates' paper was titled "Dying Campfires: Jews, Indians and Descendant Organizations" and included a comparison of Marranos (Sephardic crypto-Jews) with so-called Wannabe Indians (descendants of Indians who want to join a Federally recognized tribe but are barred from applying for membership for various reasons).

Both categories of ethnic belonging, Yates showed, are often rejected by official authorities like rabbinical courts and the Bureau of Indian Affairs because adherents are seen to be only selectively practicing the group's customs and traditions. 

Of the Marranos, for instance, Benzion Netanyahu wrote, "The Marranos ought to be treated realistically according to what they actually were -- not unwilling, but willing converts, and consequently traitors to the Jewish religion and enemies of the Jewish people." In other words, Conversos chose to practice some Jewish, some Christian customs, or to hide their true beliefs with an insincere profession of Christianity. 

In the same way, Cherokee and other Indian descendant organizations were criticized by William Quinn in an article that served as a sort of legal brief on the subject of Wannabe Indians published in 1989 in American Indian Quarterly. "Wannabe Indians are scorned by 'real' Indians because they pick and choose what customs they will adopt, because they have a 'distorted notion of the way in which Indians live and behave,'" Yates concluded. 

Read Yates' paper. 

The sequencing of the human genome capped off the 20th century's tireless search for genetic causes for all diseases.  But epigenetics is the hot new science now. Dr. Anne Marie Fine, a Scottsdale physician, certainly thinks so. Dr. Fine spoke in Paris recently on Epigenetics and Beauty and next month will present a paper called "Dining at the Epigenetic Cafe" in Monte Carlo, Monaco at the largest European physicians' anti-aging conference.  In June she will present a paper entitled "Epigenetics and the Autosomal DNA of Human Populations: Clinical Perspectives and Personal Genome Tests at the University of British Colombia, Canada," with Donald Yates, principal investigator at DNA Consultants, along with participating in a 90 minute colloquium on epigenetics, autosomal DNA and ethnic identity.  Clearly, epigenetics is stealing the show!

From the Fine Center for Natural Medicine News, here is how Dr. Fine describes epigenetics and its promise:

"Epi" literally means "above" so epigenetics are the influences from above that affect the DNA. Epigenetics refers to modifications to DNA and chromatin, the protein scaffolding that surrounds the DNA, that persist from one cell division to the next, despite a lack of change in the underlying DNA sequence.  So the "epigenome" refers to the interface between the environment and the genome.  This is the basis behind the new science of epigenetics- how the environment affects the cellular DNA. Cells are bathed continuously in a sea of changing environmental conditions.  This means the epigenome is dynamic and responsive to environmental signals especially during development, but also throughout life.  It is becoming increasingly apparent that stress, environmental chemicals, and nutrient deficiencies are some of the biggest factors that promote epigenetic changes to the DNA.  In addition, some of these changes in gene expression persist long after the exposure has stopped.  What this means is that these changes can transcend generations.

It is becoming clear that a wide variety of common illnesses, behaviors, and other health conditions may have at least a partial epigenetic etiology, including cancer, respiratory, cardiovascular, reproductive, and autoimmune diseases, neurological disorders such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and other cognitive dysfunctions, psychiatric illnesses, obesity and diabetes, infertility and sexual dysfunction.  Effectors of epigenetic changes include many agents, such as heavy metals, pesticides, tobacco smoke, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, hormones, radioactivity, viruses, bacteria, basic nutrients, and the social environment, including maternal care.  It has even been suggested that our thoughts and emotions can induce epigenetic changes.

"Incredibly, only about 2 percent of diseases can be attributed to locked-in single gene mutations," says Dr. Fine.  Most disease occurs as a complex interaction between genetic susceptibility and the environment.  This means, while there are genetic predispositions,  there are environmental triggers that actually start the disease, but also environmental factors that protect against developing the disease.   The key is to understand which factors promote disease, and avoid them, and which protect, and seek them out.  Our genetic makeup doesn't necessarily determine our biological fate.  "Genes may load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger," says Dr. Fine.

James Watson once said that the double helix contains a library of detailed information about all generations of our ancestry "if only we could read it." Combining epigenetics and the advances in autosomal DNA tests, we are beginning to read the whole of human medical, evolutionary and ethnic history, at least in outline form.