Epigenetics: Looking beyond Genes to decode the Mysteries of Life

Dr. Kshitij Mohan, RKMV 2001 (X)

Dr. Kshitij Mohan (Class of 2007) made a fascinating presentation on Epigenetics and explained in detail for the audience what this term entails. As the term suggests, Epigenetics is essentially the study of changes in the way genes work on top of the inherent DNA sequencing. What it means is that factors like cell development, childhood experiences, environmental chemicals, use of drugs and pharmaceutics, diet, and ageing can impact how these modifications happen.

He started the talk by tracing the vergy genesis of life from the zygote (single cell) leading to a fully functional complex ecosystem like a human body. He also explored in detail the process of cell differentiation and how a single has the information to eventually differentiate into a number of types of cells all dedicated towards achieving equally varied tasks. The scope of all this is indeed very large. He went on to trace all this information to the genes and then took the talk forward in order to point out the role of epigenetics towards exploring the mysteries of life, as the title of the talk suggests.

For the uninitiated in this field of study, he carefully unpacked the concepts of epigenetic modifications and epigenetic markers. Moving on from that, the factors which affect epigenetics were explained. The talks also explored what can go wrong with epigenetic imprinting and what are its pitfalls. In conclusion to the talk, Dr. Mohan pointed out the drugs based on epigenetic programming and the kind of problems these drugs seek to solve.

It was a very interesting talk and there was a lot to learn for the bulk of the audience who have little or no knowledge of this fascinating field. The speaker took time to explain these concepts in great detail and it was a thoroughly enjoyable session of Praktani Adda. A vote of thanks was bestowed on Dr. Mohan for his valuable time and insights on such an important topic.