I like my doc's description of epigenetics. She compared it to copying an article you really want someone else to read. But you take it off the printer to find there must have been a glitch or stain somewhere on the machine cuz an important section of the article is illegible even though the rest is ok. But the stain is over a very important point you wanted to make. This mistake doesn't change the article itself, just the copies you've made. Like the environment and genes, an outside force messed it up.
It could have been a stain on the outer edge and wouldn't have really mattered. Likewise, some of our defects aren't a big deal, it just depends on where they are. But since its right at an important part of the article, it's a huge problem. This is the same with our genes. Some make it impossible for DNA or RNA to be copied correctly, just like the article. The environment affects our genes but doesn't change them forever so much as it alters the way they're behaving or read.
I thinK the moral to the story should be to never eat while your making copies
