Down here at the pawn shop

[footfootfoot]

There have been recent studies showing that our DNA changes in response to stress. That DNA is inherited by descendants even though the stress has changed.

Basically, evolution.

By stress I don't mean a tough day at work, but any type of stress put upon a person. Hunger, learning, emergencies and so forth.

It is probably true about other human experiences but I don't think that's been studied, but it stands to reason. We need to think of DNA as "a living document" not something cast in stone.

[Lamplighter]

Ummmm.....I'm not so sure.

Such "stress" would have to specifically affect the DNA of a person's sperm or egg cells,
not their somatic cells, for inheritance to take place, and even then
inheritance would happen only rarely and randomly
... in a comparatively miniscule number of pregnancies.

When the stress of pregnancies during the severe starvation and war time conditions
at Stalingrad during WWII was investigated for birth defects, the effects could not be shown.

I think UT's emphasis on "culture" is important, not in the food/water sense of "nurture",
but in the overall sense of societal support and traditions.
Unfortunately, some of those traditions are not always beneficial to the individual.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Our cultural differences APPEAR to be genetic, because they happen over so many generations of time that we can't see where the changes happened.

Hence the idea of "memes" evolving similarly to genetic evolution, and for the same reason - cultural groups are separated mentally like evolutionary groups are separated geographically, with some mixing along the borders, and imperfect duplication and a changing environment causing change over time.

[Undertoad]

Woman comes in and sells us a Wii game and an xBox game.

She looks 13, so I'm about to ask whether she's 18 since you can't buy or pawn unless you're 18.

She hands over her ID for the transaction. She's 32.

I've had this happen several times. Black women, they can look young!

So my (new) coworker leans back and sighs, he's got some back pain going. She offers "I could give you a massage, my massages are great."

Don: What do you massage?

Woman: Oh, you know back, shoulder, legs...

Alan: How much do you charge?

Woman. Twenty dollars.

Alan: Happy ending?

Woman: The whole ordeal.


It was not a surprise that a young lady was offering her sex services in the shop, but it was a surprise that buttoned-down Alan, who never says anything sex-related, would ask whether she was offering.

[jimhelm]

The whole ordeal, lol.

[glatt]

"ordeal" doesn't exactly sell it.

[infinite monkey]

She should've had a good-looking man sucking her face off. That would've sold it!

[jimhelm]

would that commercial have been more gross or less gross if the woman had been similarly unattractive?

[infinite monkey]

Answer: same amount of gross. Don't get that defensive 'ugly women don't like it' attitude.

Remember humor?

[jimhelm]

I only asked because it occurred to me that it would be less gross if the woman was on a par with Walter. I don't really know why.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Ummmm.....I'm not so sure.

Such "stress" would have to specifically affect the DNA of a person's sperm or egg cells,
not their somatic cells, for inheritance to take place, and even then
inheritance would happen only rarely and randomly
... in a comparatively miniscule number of pregnancies.

When the stress of pregnancies during the severe starvation and war time conditions
at Stalingrad during WWII was investigated for birth defects, the effects could not be shown.

I think UT's emphasis on "culture" is important, not in the food/water sense of "nurture",
but in the overall sense of societal support and traditions.
Unfortunately, some of those traditions are not always beneficial to the individual.

As I remember the (I think it was a National Geographic video about Sapolsky's work) video stated that the researchers followed the children who were born of those pregnant mothers and those children had inherited the changed DNA in their somatic cells. Perhaps it was only a change that was passed on to fetuses. I don't recall if the children of the starvation victims then had children with the changed DNA.

Maybe I have to watch it again and take better notes, drink less beer, or fewer beers.

[infinite monkey]

@jim: Look at me regressing and being the defensive one. Sorry.

For me, I just can't stand that noise on television. Even if it's a show I like with people I like...the slurpy thing just gets to me like fingernails on a blackboard get to some people. And of course it was exaggerated just for that effect, but it made me oogey.

But I also get the creeps from certain suspended ceilings and other holey textures like that. And wet yarn. Can't stand it. Yeah, I'm weird.

[jimhelm]

Well that ceiling tile looks like its covered in roaches. So yah.

And you should come have lunch with my counterpart. Gawd. Chews with his mouth open. Mack, Mack, Mack! Bleurgh...

EDIT: and I hope you don't identify as an 'ugly' woman. you've got such a pretty face.

[LabRat]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

There have been recent studies showing that our DNA changes in response to stress. ...We need to think of DNA as "a living document" not something cast in stone.

*** de-cloaks***

Yes, this field of study is called epigenetics.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/epigenetics.html :
Program Description
Once nurture seemed clearly distinct from nature. Now it appears that our diets and lifestyles can change the expression of our genes. How? By influencing a network of chemical switches within our cells collectively known as the epigenome. This new understanding may lead us to potent new medical therapies. Epigenetic cancer therapy, for one, already seems to be yielding promising results.

and

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/
WHAT IS EPIGENETICS?
The development and maintenance of an organism is orchestrated by a set of chemical reactions that switch parts of the genome off and on at strategic times and locations. Epigenetics is the study of these reactions and the factors that influence them.
EPIGENETICS & THE ENVIRONMENT
The genome dynamically responds to the environment. Stress, diet, behavior, toxins and other factors activate chemical switches that regulate gene expression.

are two good places to start for info if you want to know more.

Sometimes, it really is yo mamma's fault.

***returns to lurker status***

[DanaC]

Holy fucking fuck... *waves at LabRat*