ANTH205 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Human Microbiota, Microbiota, Epigenetics
Wednesday, 2/28
Day 11
Epigenetics
Epigenetics & The Human Genome
● Our environment does have influence from our genes
○ An emerging field of study
○ Examines the ways in which the environment one is born into can directly affect
the expression of genes during one’s lifetime
○ Epigenetic markers may change in response to processes that anthropologists
frequently study
■ Nutrition, stress, disease, social inequality, migration, etc.
○ Markers can also be inherited cross generations, facilitating intergenerational
transmission of environmental information that may shape the direction of
evolutionary change within the species
The Human Microbiome
● Even the idea that our bodies are distinct, bounded, autonomous biological units has
been challenged by science.
● The human body contains approximately 100 trillion cells, about 90% of which are
independent microorganisms that live within our bodies
○ This diversity is referred to as the human microbiome
○ Taken together, these organisms weigh about as much as the human brain!
○ And they play a key role in helping us regulate bodily functions
○ Essentially, it’s a big, interdependent, symbiotic system that works as a unit, with
direct effects on human health and disease
From Human Beginnings to Human Becomings
● Genes obviously play an important role in both human evolution and individual
development, but epigenetics shows that genes are highly susceptible to environment
○ Similarly, the human microbiome shows that our bodies don't operate in isolation
○ Instead of seeing bodies as discrete biological units, anthropological research
calls for us to see bodies as complex, with connections to many other processes
and organisms
○ Some scholars frame this as a shift from thinking about ourselves as “human
beings” to “human becomings,” who are continually evolving and adapting, both
on the species level and within our own lifespans.
Connecting Culture and Behavior
● Direct links between specific genes and specific behaviors have proven very difficult to
identify
○ But the fields of study we’ve just discussed show that culture does have the
power to shape the biological factors that define us
○ Despite the popular idea that nature has driven our development as human
beings, we cannot discount the influence of culture on our evolutionary history as
a species, and the development we go through in our own lifetime as individuals
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Our environment does have influence from our genes. Examines the ways in which the environment one is born into can directly affect the expression of genes during one"s lifetime. Epigenetic markers may change in response to processes that anthropologists frequently study. Nutrition, stress, disease, social inequality, migration, etc. Markers can also be inherited cross generations, facilitating intergenerational transmission of environmental information that may shape the direction of evolutionary change within the species. Even the idea that our bodies are distinct, bounded, autonomous biological units has been challenged by science. The human body contains approximately 100 trillion cells, about 90% of which are independent microorganisms that live within our bodies. This diversity is referred to as the human microbiome. Taken together, these organisms weigh about as much as the human brain! And they play a key role in helping us regulate bodily functions.