Beyond Our Genes

The genotype/phenotype dichotomy is being slowly replaced by a more complex relationship whereby the majority of phenotypes arise from interactions between one’s genotype and the environment in which one lives. Interestingly, it seems that not only our lives, but also our ancestors’ lives, determine how we look. This newly recognized form of inheritance is known as ( epi )genetic, as it involves an additional layer of information on top of the one encoded by the genes. Its discovery has constitu