Does lifestyle affect DNA? Do genes (DNA) change during a person's life? And if they do, then with what frequency? (see comments)? Changes in human DNA during life

Since April of this year, human DNA began to undergo its more intense mutation under the influence of increasing solar activity. More precisely, the transmutation of the cells of all life on the planet has been going on for decades. But I am writing this because many are scared, trying to look for doctors, unable to recognize the process of changes at a deep level in their physical body. And the treatment is not working, the government's medical proposals are not working: all this does not correspond to the challenges that the person offers ... The sun.

These symptoms appear and disappear unexpectedly, appear for no reason, go away on their own. These are good signs: the body is sending you the message that it is freeing itself from the old biology and from the old thinking. Keep up with him)

Symptoms arising from mutation (rearrangement) of DNA and changes in the body at the cellular level:

Feeling tired or empty on light exertion.
- desire to sleep longer or more often than usual.
- symptoms of a flu condition - high fever, sweat, pain in bones and joints, etc. And all this is not amenable to antibiotic treatment.
- dizziness
- ringing in the ears

An important symptom is pain in the heart, cardiac arrhythmia, which occurs due to the adjustment of the heart for new energies.

Today, the transitional person has a time of opening the 4th heart chakra, the chakra of love and compassion. It is often blocked (in 90% of ordinary people!), And its activation can be accompanied by bouts of melancholy and fear. The heart chakra is associated with the thymus gland. This organ is located in front of the lungs and is in its infancy in most. She didn't develop at all. When the 4th chakra begins to open, the thymus begins to grow. At a later stage, this may even be seen on tomography.

The growth of the thymus gland is associated with chest pains, suffocation, and again there may be symptoms of bronchitis - pneumonia, in which doctors mistakenly diagnose flu or pneumonia.

Headaches, migraines;
- runny nose with sneezing from morning to evening, for days and months;
- sometimes - diarrhea;
- the feeling that the whole body is vibrating - especially when the person is in a relaxed state;
- intense muscle spasms;
- tingling sensation - in the hands or feet;
- loss of muscle strength - in the arms, caused by changes in the circulation system;
- sometimes difficulty breathing, the need to breathe deeper, a feeling of lack of oxygen;
- changes in the immune system;
- changes in the lymphatic system;
- nails and hair grow faster than usual;
- bouts of depression without real reason;
- tension, anxiety and a high level of stress - you feel that something is happening, but you do not know what it is.

Sometimes there may be signs of illnesses that you thought were healed a long time ago. These are the roots of ailments that have been preserved on other information levels of your body. The disease can even proceed acutely, possibly reversely, but faster than it went when you were sick. This means that the body gets rid of the disease on a deeper level. Your body is very intelligent, and often more intelligent than yourself!

I am translating briefly:

What is happening today with man, with nature, is the activation of the DNA code. If you call it a mutation, then - yes, it is a mutation. The mutation is caused by the increasing activity of the Sun.

Symptoms of sun exposure: vertigo, muscle aches and cramps, back and neck pain, biceps pain, tremors, nervousness, agitation, panic attacks.

As well as…

Colds, weakness. Cold - no fever.
Speech. It is difficult to find words, the difficulty is to put them together.
Food anomalies.
Constant hunger
An acute need for sweets.
You are hungry, but you cannot.
Excitation.
You are acutely aware of the growing negativity wherever there are many people - in the crowd, even on TV - and this makes you sick.

If you are “hit” by this list, I have good news for you: your DNA is being activated intensively!

Now WHAT TO DO:

The main thing is no panic! Take a walk. Move! Bicycle, pool, fitness equipment ... Or at least deep squats 20 to 50 times a day.
Definitely - water contrasts!
Be sure to drink soda every day!
It is possible, if it helps, homeopathy!
Using essential oils!
Shiatsu massage, etc.

Do neck exercises - head up, down, left and right, place your ear on your shoulder, then on the other. Try your best!

I'll tell you a little more on my own: breathe correctly! And this is a whole art! If you feel that it has come, breathe deeply, as deeply as you can, and as slowly as you can. And remember this advice for the situation when day X comes, and he comes. On the machine: if anything, breathe deeply. Feel the mental or physical rabbit hole - breathe! Remember: if you have time, study pranayama.

And here are some psychophysical symptoms and an attempt to explain how to relate to this:

1. Feeling as if you are in a pressure cooker with intense energy and, as a result, stress. Remember, in order to adapt to a higher vibration, you must eventually change. Old patterns of behavior and beliefs come to the surface in a conflict form. Control your behavior (self-control!) With command thoughts. Tame your EGO, emotions, feelings ...

2. Feelings of disorientation, loss of a sense of place. You are not in 3d anymore, but on the “fiery front line”! For both body and spirit!

3. Unusual pains in different parts of the body. It is the energies that were released that were previously blocked and vibrate in 3d while you vibrate in a higher dimension.

4. Waking up at night between 2 and 4 o'clock. A lot happens to us in a dream. “Space healers” work with our physical organs and subtle bodies during the night's rest. Therefore, you sometimes even need a break during these intense processes, and you wake up.

5. Forgetfulness. You notice for yourself how some details fall out of your memory. And that's to say the least! The fact is that from time to time you are in a border zone, in more than one dimension, dangle back and forth, and physical memory can simply be blocked at these moments.
In addition: The past is part of the old, and the old is gone forever.

6. Loss of identity. You are trying to access your past, but this is no longer possible. You can sometimes catch yourself feeling like you don't know who it is by looking at yourself in the mirror.

7. Out-of-body experience. You may feel as if someone is speaking for you, but it is not you. It is a natural defense mechanism for survival when you are under stress. The body is under great pressure, and you are "in the moment" for a split second as if leaving the body. This means that you should not experience what your body is going through now. It lasts no more than a moment and passes.

8. Increased sensitivity to the environment. Crowds, noise, food, cars, TV, loud voices - all of this you can barely bear. You easily fall into a state of depression and, conversely, easily become overwrought and hyperexcited.
Your psyche is tuned to new, more subtle vibrations! Help yourself with different ways to relax!

9. Don't feel like doing anything? This is not laziness or depression. This is a 'reboot' of your biocomputer. Don't force yourself. Your body knows what it needs. RELAXATION!

10. Intolerance to the lower vibrational phenomena of 3d, conversations, relationships, social structures, etc. They literally make you feel sick. You are growing and you no longer coincide with many and many of the things that surrounded you before and did not irritate you at all as now. It will fall off by itself, don't worry.

11. The sudden disappearance of some friends from your life, a change in habits, work, place of residence, diet ... You are spiritually elevated, and these people no longer correspond to your vibrations. NEW is coming soon and it will be much better.

12. Days or periods of extreme tiredness. Your body is losing density, thinning, and undergoing intense restructuring.

13. If you feel attacks of low blood sugar, eat more often. On the contrary, you may not be hungry at all.

14. Emotional destabilization, tearfulness ... All the emotions that you experienced before and accumulated in yourself, come out. Rejoice! Don't hold them back!

15. The feeling that "the roof is going". Nothing wrong. You are opening out-of-body experiences and experiences of other frequencies - that is, realities. Much has become more accessible to you now. You just aren't used to it. Your inner knowledge and intuition grow stronger and barriers disappear.

16. Anxiety and panic. Your ego loses most of itself and is afraid.
Your physiological system is overwhelmed. Something is happening to you that you cannot fully understand, but let it be! ..

17. You also lose the low vibration behaviors that you developed for yourself to survive in 3d. It can make you feel vulnerable and helpless. These patterns and behaviors will soon be unnecessary for you. Just be patient and calm, wait.

18. Depression. The outside world doesn't match your needs and emotions. You are releasing the dark energies that were within you. Do not be intimidated or hinder their exit, but try to transform so that they do not harm others.

19. Dreams. Many are aware that they are experiencing unusually intense dreams.

20. Unexpected throwing in sweat and temperature surges. Your body changes the "heating" system, cellular waste is burned, remnants of the past are burned in your subtle fields.

21. Your plans suddenly change in the middle of the path, and you start going in a completely different direction. Your soul is trying to balance your energy. Your soul knows more than you. Listen and trust your heart!

In your CONSCIOUSNESS there are suppressed, unmet needs for KIND, PERFECTION, INTEGRITY, LAW, JUSTICE AND ORDER. Perhaps because of this, you have or may develop such pathological conditions as ANTIPATHY, DISTRUST, CALCULATION ONLY FOR YOURSELF AND FOR YOURSELF, DISINTEGRATION, ANGER, CYNISM, terry selfishness ...

Do you know what "medicine" you really need? KNOWLEDGE!

With the help of CRISPR, a tremendous breakthrough in genetic engineering is taking place right now: scientists plan to soon learn how to rid us forever of any disease, with the prospect of any controlled mutations and eternal life.

We were prompted to publish this post by the video “CRISPR: gene editing will change everything and forever”, which tells about the cutting edge of science in terms of human genetic modification: it is not just about getting rid of diseases such as AIDS, cancer and many others, but also about creating an impeccable new kind of people, people with superpowers and immortality. And this is happening right now before our very eyes.

All these perspectives are opening up thanks to the recent revolutionary discovery of protein CRISPR – Cas9, but first things first.

Previously, it was believed that the DNA in each of our cells is absolutely identical and contains our exact and unchanging copy - no matter what cell we take, but it turned out that this is not so: the DNA in different cells is slightly different and they change depending on different circumstances.

The discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 protein was aided by observation of bacteria that survived an attack by viruses.

The oldest war on earth

Bacteria and viruses have been competing since the beginning of life: bacteriophage viruses prey on bacteria. In the ocean, they kill 40% of the total bacteria every day. The virus does this by inserting its genetic code into a bacterium and using it as a factory.

The bacteria try to fight back unsuccessfully, but in most cases their defense mechanisms are too weak. But sometimes bacteria survive. Then they can activate their most effective antiviral system. They store part of the virus's DNA in their genetic code, the “CRISPR” DNA archive.Here it is stored until the required moment.

When the virus attacks again, the bacterium creates an RNA copy from the DNA archive and
charges a secret weapon - the Cas9 protein. This protein scans the bacteria for viral interference by comparing every piece of DNA it finds with an archive. When it is 100% matched, it activates and cuts off the DNA of the virus, rendering it useless, thus protecting the bacterium.

The Cas9 protein scans the cell's DNA for the introduction of a virus and replaces the damaged part with a healthy fragment.

Tellingly, Cas9 is as accurate as a DNA surgeon. The turnaround came when scientists realized that the CRISPR system was programmable - you could simply give a copy of DNA to be altered and put the system in a living cell.

In addition to being accurate, cheap and easy to use, CRISPR allows you to turn genes on and off in living cells and study specific DNA sequences.
This method also works with any cell, microorganism, plant, animal or human.

Scientists have found that Cas9 can be programmed for any replacement in any part of DNA - and this opens up almost endless possibilities for humanity.

End of disease?

In 2015, scientists used CRISPR to remove the HIV virus from the cells of patients
and proved that it is possible... A year later, they conducted a more ambitious experiment with rats with the HIV virus in virtually all of their cells.

Scientists simply injected CRISPR into their tails, and were able to remove more than 50% of the virus from cells throughout the body. Perhaps in a few decades, CRISPR will help get rid of HIV and other retroviruses - viruses that hide inside human DNA, like herpes. Perhaps CRISPR can defeat our worst enemy, cancer..

Cancer is the result of cells that refuse to die and keep dividing while hiding from the immune system. CRISPR gives us the means to edit our immune cells and make them the best cancer cell hunters.

Perhaps after a while, the cancer treatment will be just a couple of shots with several thousand of your own cells, created in the laboratory to cure you forever.

Perhaps after a while, the issue of cancer treatment is a matter of a couple of injections of modified cells.

The first clinical trial of such a therapy on human patients was approved in early 2016 in the United States. Less than a month later, Chinese scientists announced that they would be treating lung cancer patients with immune cells modified using the same technology in August 2016. The case is rapidly gaining momentum.

And then there are genetic diseases, thousands of them. They range from mildly annoying to extremely deadly or years of suffering. With powerful tools like CRISPR, we can end this one day.

More than 3000 genetic diseases are caused by a single substitution in DNA.
We are already creating a modified version of Cas9 that fixes such errors and relieves the cell from disease. In a couple of decades, we may be able to eradicate thousands of diseases forever. However, all of these medical applications have one drawback - they are limited to one patient and will die with him if we do not use them on reproductive cells or at an early stage of fetal development.

CRISPR is likely to be used much more widely. For example, to create a modified person, a projected child. This will bring smooth but irreversible changes in the human gene pool.

Projected children

The means to alter the DNA of a human fetus already exist,
but the technology is at an early stage of development. However, it has already been used twice. In 2015 and 2016, experiments by Chinese scientists with human embryos achieved partial success on a second attempt.

They have identified gigantic difficulties in editing the genes of embryos, but many scientists are already working on solving these problems. This is the same as computers of the 70s: in the future they will get better.

Regardless of your views on genetic engineering, it will affect everyone. Modified people can change the genome of our entire species, because their grafted qualities will be passed on to their children, and through the generations they will slowly spread, slowly changing the gene pool of humanity. It will start gradually.

The first projected children won't be much different from us. Most likely, their genes will be changed to get rid of fatal hereditary diseases.
As technology advances, more and more people will think that not using genetic modification is unethical because it will doom children.
to preventable suffering and death.

As soon as the first such child is born, the door will open, which can no longer be closed. At first, some traits will not be touched by anyone, but as the approval of the technology and our knowledge of the genetic code grows, the temptation will grow.
If you make your offspring immune to Alzheimer's disease, why not add not give them an improved metabolism? Why not reward them with excellent eyesight to the pile? How about growth or muscle? Lush hair? How about the gift of exceptional intelligence for your child?

Huge changes will come as a result of the accumulation of personal decisions of millions of people.
It's a slippery slope and modified humans could be the new normal. As genetic engineering becomes more commonplace and our knowledge improves, we can come to eradicate the main cause of death - aging.

Two-thirds of the roughly 150,000 people who die today have died of aging-related causes.

Today it is believed that aging is caused by the accumulation of damage in our cells.
like DNA breaks or wear and tear on the systems responsible for repairing those damages.
But there are also genes that directly affect our aging.

Genetic engineering and other therapies could stop or slow down aging. It is even possible to reverse it.

A typical reaction to the possibility of eternal life (like any other technology familiar now, but revolutionary several hundred years ago).

Eternal life and "x-men"

We know that there are animals in nature that do not age. Maybe we could borrow a couple of genes from them. Some scientists believe that aging will be eradicated one day. We will still die, but not in a hospital at 90, but after a couple of thousand years, lived surrounded by our loved ones.

The challenge is immense and perhaps the goal is unattainable, but it can be assumed that people living today may be the first to taste the fruits of anti-aging therapy. Perhaps you just need to convince the smart billionaire to help solve this big problem.

More broadly, we could solve many problems with the help of specially modified people, for example, who could better cope with high-calorie food, and get rid of such ailments of civilization as obesity.

Possessing a modified immune system with a list of potential threats,
we could become immune to most of the diseases that plague us today. Even later, we could create people for long space flights and for adaptation to various conditions on other planets, which would be extremely useful for maintaining our life in a hostile universe.

A few pinches of salt

There are several major obstacles, technological and ethical. Many will feel fear of a world where we weed out imperfect people and select offspring based on what is considered healthy.

But we already live in such a world. Tests for dozens of genetic diseases or complications have become the norm for pregnant women in many countries. Often, a single suspicion of a genetic defect can lead to abortion.
Take Down syndrome, for example, one of the most common genetic defects: in Europe, about 90% of pregnancies with this disorder are terminated.

Genetic selection in action: Down syndrome is already diagnosed at an early stage of embryonic development and 90% of pregnancies with this diagnosis are terminated.

The decision to terminate a pregnancy is very personal, but it is important to understand that today we select people based on their health status. There is no point in pretending that this will change, so we need to act with caution and ethics, despite the growing freedom of choice due to further advances in technology.

However, these are all perspectives of the distant future. Despite the power of CRISPR, the method is not without its drawbacks. Editing errors can happen, unknown errors can occur in any part of DNA and go unnoticed.

A change in a gene can achieve the desired result and cure a disease, but at the same time provoke unwanted changes. We simply don't know enough about the complex relationships of our genes to avoid unpredictable consequences.

The work on precision and observation methods is very important in the upcoming clinical trials. And while we've discussed a possible bright future, it's also worth mentioning a darker vision. Imagine what a country like North Korea can do with this level of technology?

It is important that the technology of genetic modification does not fall into the hands of totalitarian regimes, which hypothetically can use it to harm humanity - for example, create an army of genetically modified soldiers.

Can she extend her reign forever with forced engineering?What will stop a totalitarian regime from creating an army of modified super soldiers?

After all, this is possible in theory. Scenarios like this are in the distant future, if they are at all possible, but proof of concept for such engineering already exists. Technology is really that powerful.

This could be a reason to ban engineering and related research, but it would definitely be a mistake. The ban on human genetic engineering will only bring science into the field with such rules and laws that we would not be comfortable with. Only by participating in the process can we be sure that research is conducted with care, intelligence, control and transparency.

We can research and introduce any genetic modification into a person.

Conclusion

Feeling anxious? Almost all of us have some kind of imperfection. Would you allow us to exist in such a new world? Technology is somewhat daunting, but we have a lot to win, and genetic engineering can be the next step in the evolution of intelligent life.

Perhaps we will end disease, increase life expectancy by centuries and go to the stars. You should not think too small when talking about such a topic. Whatever your opinion on genetic engineering, the future comes no matter what.

What used to be science fiction will soon become our new reality.
A reality full of opportunities and obstacles.

You can also watch the video itself directly:

The nervous system works by means of electromagnetic impulses. Roughly speaking, this means that our entire brain works on magnetism, like a computer processor, and thoughts have a connection with electricity, recording information at the cellular level in much the same way as the head of a cassette tape recorder does. And since a person forms his thoughts into words, then with the language we also encode our reality. We will talk about this later.

Of course, the authors of this study have not heard of. All the better. Their information confirms his words without looking for evidence that he was right. DNA is a bioacoustic antenna that not only carries information, but also receives it from outside. Just as thoughts can change genes in an individual, the general thoughts of an entire civilization can change its entire reality!

It has been scientifically proven that training the brain and stimulating certain areas of the brain can have beneficial effects on health. Scientists have tried to understand exactly how these practices affect our body.

The new study by scientists from Wisconsin, Spain and France provides the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body that occur after intense clear-mind meditation.

The study examined the effects of clear-mind meditation in a group of experienced meditators and compared the effect with a group of untrained subjects who were involved in quiet, non-meditative activities. After 8 hours of clear-mind meditation, meditators were found to have genetic and molecular changes, including altered levels of gene regulation and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes that are responsible for physical recovery in stressful situations.

"To our knowledge, this work demonstrates for the first time rapid changes in gene expression among subjects practicing clear-mind meditation."- says study author Richard J. Davidson, founder of the Center for the Study of the Healthy Mind and professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"The most interesting thing is that the changes are observed in genes that are currently the subject of anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics." Says Perla Kaliman, the first author of the article and researcher at the Institute for Biomedical Research (IIBB-CSIC-IDIBAPS) in Barcelona, ​​where the molecular analysis was carried out.

Clear Mind Meditation has been found to have a positive effect on inflammatory diseases and is endorsed by the American Heart Association as a preventative intervention. New research results may demonstrate the biological mechanism of its therapeutic effect.

Gene activity may vary based on perception

According to Dr. Bruce Lipton, gene activity can be altered based on daily exercise. If your perception is reflected in the chemical processes in your body and your nervous system reads and interprets the environment and then controls your blood chemistry, you can literally change the fate of your cells by changing your thoughts.

In fact, Dr. Lipton's research clearly shows that by changing your perception, the brain is able to alter the activity of genes and create more than thirty thousand variations of the products from each gene. The scientist also claims that gene programs are contained within the nucleus of a cell, and you can rewrite these genetic programs by changing your blood chemistry.

In simple terms, this means thatfor to treat cancer, we need to first change the way we think.

"The function of our mind is to reconcile our beliefs and actual experiences."- says Dr. Lipton. “This means that your brain will regulate your biology and your behavior according to your beliefs. If you are told that you will die within six months and your brain believes it, then most likely you will actually die during that time. This is called the "nocebo effect," the result of negative thoughts, the opposite of the placebo effect. "

The Nocebo Effect indicates a three-part system. Here is the part of you that swears that it does not want to die (consciousness), plays the part that believes that it will die (the doctor's prediction mediated by the subconscious), then a chemical reaction (reinterpreted by brain chemistry) occurs, which should prove that the body corresponds to the dominant belief

Neurology has recognized that 95 percent of our lives are controlled by the subconscious.

Now let's get back to the part that doesn't want to die, that is, consciousness. Doesn't it affect the chemistry of the body? Dr. Lipton stated that it boils down to the fact that the subconscious, which contains our deepest beliefs, has been programmed. Ultimately, it is these beliefs that become priorities.

"This is a difficult situation."- says Dr. Lipton. “People are programmed to believe that they are victims and that they have no control over the situation. They are programmed from the start by the beliefs of their parents. So, for example, when we are sick, parents tell us to go to the doctor, because the doctor is the authority who cares about our health. As a child, we receive a message from our parents that doctors are responsible for our health and that we are victims of external forces that we cannot control ourselves. It's funny how people get better on the way to the doctor. That's when the innate ability to heal itself dies, another example of the placebo effect. "

Clear Mind Meditation Affects Regulatory Pathways

Davidson's findings show a down-regulation of genes involved in inflammation. Affected genes include the pro-inflammatory RIPK2 and COX2 genes, as well as histone deacetylases (HDACs), which epigenetically regulate the activity of other genes. Moreover, a decrease in the expression of these genes was associated with a faster physical recovery of the body after the release of the hormone cortisol in a situation of social stress.

For many years, biologists have suspected that something like epigenetic inheritance was going on at the cellular level. The different types of cells in our body support this example. Skin and brain cells are endowed with different forms and functions, although their DNA is identical. So there must be mechanisms other than DNA to prove that skin cells remain skin cells when they divide.

Here's what's surprising: according to scientists, there were no differences in the genes of each of the studied groups before the practice. The above effects were noted only in the clear mind meditation group.

Since several other DNA-modified genes did not show any differences between the groups, it is assumed that the practice of clear-mind meditation affects only a few specific regulatory pathways.

A key finding of the research was that there were genetic changes in the group of clear-mind meditators that were not found in the other group, even though they were also engaged in quiet activities. The result of the survey proves the principle: the practice of meditation with a clear mind can lead to epigenetic changes in the genome.

Previous studies in rodents and humans have shown rapid (within hours) epigenetic responses to influences such as stress, diet, or exercise.

"Our genes are quite dynamic in their expression and these results suggest that the calmness of our minds can influence their expression." Says Davidson.

“The results obtained can serve as a basis for studying the possibility of using meditative practices in the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. » - says Kaliman.

Unconscious beliefs are the key

Many positive thinking practitioners know that good thoughts and constant repetition of affirmations do not always bring the effect that books on the topic promise. Dr. Lipton does not argue with this point of view, who argues that positive thoughts come from consciousness, while negative thoughts are usually programmed by a stronger subconscious.

“The main problem is that people are aware of their conscious beliefs and behavior and are not aware of unconscious messages and behavior. Many people do not even realize that everything is controlled by the subconscious, a million times stronger sphere than consciousness. From 95 to 99 percent of our lives are controlled by subconscious programs "

“Your subconscious beliefs work for you or against you, but the truth is that you are not in control of your life, because the subconscious mind replaces conscious control. So when you try to heal by repeating positive affirmations, perhaps an invisible subconscious program is getting in the way. "

The power of the subconscious mind is clearly visible in people with multiple personality disorder. For example, when one of the personalities is "at the helm", a person may suffer from a serious allergy to strawberries. At the same time, as soon as the personality changes, the same person is able to eat strawberries without any consequences.

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DNA is a chemical that is subject to external influences. These influences can be physical (temperature, ultraviolet and radiation radiation) or chemical (free radicals, carcinogens, etc.).

## Temperature

When the temperature rises for every 10 degrees, the rate of the chemical reaction doubles. Of course, there are no such temperature fluctuations in the cell nucleus (where the DNA is stored). But there are small changes that can cause DNA to react with some substance dissolved nearby.

## ULTRAVIOLET

Ultraviolet light affects us almost always. In winter, these are negligible doses. Significant in summer. If an ultraviolet photon hits a DNA molecule, its energy is enough to form a new chemical bond. Adjacent DNA links (nucleotides) can form an additional bond with each other, which will lead to disruption of DNA reading and replication. Alternatively, the UV photon can cause the DNA strand to break due to its high energy.

## RADIATION

Radiation radiation. Do you think it is only at the reactor? There is a so-called normal radiation background, that is, several particles fly around and through us every second, and this does not always happen without a trace for our DNA. To understand the magnitude of the background radiation, take a look here.

But don't be afraid. The background is called normal for a reason. Not all particles pass through the skin, from those that have penetrated, not all penetrate deeply, and those that have penetrated often cut into other molecules and atoms in the cell, of which there are a lot. Only a few make it to DNA, and that may not have any effect on it.

By the way, the higher above the ground, the brighter the background radiation. This is due to cosmic radiation, from which we are more protected by the earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. The farther from the earth, the weaker the magnetic field and the thinner layer of the atmosphere, and more high-energy particles bombard our body.

## FREE RADICALS

Among the chemicals, it is the free radicals that are constantly formed in the cell that play an important role. It is a by-product of redox processes, without which life is impossible. Of course, over millions of years of evolution, only those organisms survived that had a system for neutralizing free radicals. We have it too. But nothing works with 100% efficiency, and no, no, but a few radicals manage to damage the DNA.

Speaking of radiation. It is also responsible for the formation of free radicals. Those high-energy particles that have reacted with substances surrounding DNA often result in the formation of radicals.

## CARCINOGENS

When it comes to carcinogens, a good example is benzpyrene, a substance formed when coal and hydrocarbons like gasoline are burned. It is found in exhaust fumes and fire smoke. Flameless has a high affinity for DNA and is incorporated into the DNA structure, thereby disrupting the nucleotide sequence. There are other mechanisms of DNA damage as well.

The reasons are not limited to external influences. The internal kitchen is also not without a flaw. DNA is a dynamic molecule that often doubles, constantly unravels and gets entangled, changes its position in space. Not all of these processes go smoothly, and breaks in the DNA strand, rearrangement and even loss of sections of the chain, fusion of several molecules into one can occur. During cell division, not all chromosomes can keep up with the newly formed cells, and one of the daughter cells may have fewer chromosomes, while the other has more. This is also a mutation.

Duplication of DNA also occurs not exactly, but with errors. Moreover, each copy is slightly shorter than the original because the edges (telomeres) are difficult to copy. Sooner or later (when we are already old) telomeres are shortened so much that the coding regions of DNA fall under the knife.

All this sounds scary, but firstly, mutations are often indifferent and rarely have negative consequences, secondly, in the course of evolution, a mechanism for repairing DNA damage has emerged, which does a good job with its duties, and thirdly, the mutational process is a necessary component for evolution and allows the birth of something that has not yet been in nature.

Biohacker Joshua Zayner wants to create a world in which anyone is able and free to experiment with their DNA. Why not?

“We've got some DNA and a syringe here,” says Joshuya Zayner in a room full of synthetic biologists and other researchers. He fills the needle and sticks it into the skin. "It will change my muscle genes and give me more muscle mass."

Zayner is a biohacker who is experimenting with biology in DIY, not in a conventional laboratory, - spoke at the SynBioBeta conference in San Francisco with a talk "A step-by-step guide to genetically altering oneself using CRISPR", where other presentations were attended by academics in costumes and young CEOs of typical biotech startups. Unlike others, he began his talk by handing out samples and brochures that explained the basics of DIY genetic engineering.

Biohacker Zayner spoke at the SynBioBeta conference with a report "Step-by-step guide to genetically changing yourself using CRISPR"

If you want to genetically modify yourself, this is not necessarily difficult. When he offered the samples in small bags to the crowd, Zeiner explained that it took him about five minutes to make the DNA, which he brought to the presentation. In the test tube was Cas9, an enzyme that cuts DNA at a specific location, oriented along the guide RNA, in a gene editing system known as CRISPR. In this example, it was designed to turn off the myostatin gene, which produces a hormone that limits muscle growth and decreases muscle mass. In a study in China, dogs with the edited gene had doubled muscle mass. If any of the spectators wanted to try, they could take the tube home and introduce it later. Even dripping it onto your skin, Zeiner said, will give you an effect, albeit a limited one.

Zayner holds PhDs in Molecular Biology and Biophysics and has also worked as a Research Assistant at NASA on Modifying Organisms for Life on Mars. But he believes that synthetic biology for editing other organisms or itself can become as easy to use as, for example, a CMS for creating a website.

“You don't need to know which promoter to use to make the desired gene or DNA fragment work,” he says, using some technical terms from genetic engineering. “You don't want to know which terminator to use, or the origin of replication ... The DNA programmer needs to know how to do this. But the only thing you need to know is so, I want the mushroom to be purple. It shouldn't be any harder. All of this is quite possible - it's just creating an infrastructure and a platform for anyone to do it. "

Of course, the genetic editing app store hasn't been created yet. But a considerable number of biohackers have learned enough to - sometimes thoughtlessly - experiment on themselves. Several people Zayner knows, for example, have started injecting themselves with myostatin. “This is happening right now,” he says. "All of these things have started to appear in literally the last few weeks." It's too early to tell whether the injections have improved the experimenters or caused problems, but some hope to see results in the coming months.

Despite his time in academia, Zeiner is clearly not a typical researcher and avoids the idea that experiments should be limited to laboratories. When at NASA he began to communicate with other biohackers through the mailing list, and learned about the problems of those who wanted to do DIY work - suppliers were difficult to find, and they did not always send the necessary orders to those who did not have a laboratory - he in 2013 started a business called The ODIN (Open Discovery Institute, and an homage to the Norse god) to send kits and tools to people who want to work in their garage or room. In 2015, deciding to leave NASA because he didn't like working in their conservative environment, he launched a successful fundraising campaign for the DIY CRISPR kit.

“The only thing you need to know is, well, I want the mushroom to be purple. It shouldn't be any harder. "

It sold $ 200,000 worth of products in 2016, including a yeast kit that can be used to refuel glowing bioluminescent beer, a home antibiotic detection kit, and a complete home lab for the price of a MacBook Pro. In 2017, he expects sales to double. Many kits are simple, and most buyers probably don't use them to change themselves (many kits go to schools). But Zayner also hopes that as more knowledge is gained, people will experiment in more unusual ways.

Zayner sells a complete home biohacking lab for about the price of a MacBook Pro.

He asks whether traditional research methods, such as randomized controlled trials, are the only way to make discoveries, indicating that in a new personalized medicine (such as cancer immunotherapy, which is personalized for each patient), sample size per person makes sense. In his speech, he argued that people should be able to experiment on their own if they want to; we change our DNA when we drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes or breathe dirty city air. Many actions sanctioned by society are more dangerous. “We donate perhaps a million people a year to the car gods,” he said. “If you ask someone," Could you get rid of the cars? " - No." (Zayner experimented in various ways, including an extreme DIY feces transplant, which he says cured his digestive problems; he also helps cancer patients with DIY immunotherapy.)

If you change your DNA, you can then sequence your genome to see if the change has occurred. But a garage experiment cannot provide as much information as conventional methods. “You can confirm that you have altered the DNA, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe or effective,” says George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School (who also acts as an advisor to the Zeiner company, recognizing the value of a biologically literate public in the century biology). “All he does is tell you that you did the right job, but that can be dangerous because you also changed something else. It may be ineffective in the sense that not enough cells have been changed, or it is too late and the damage has already been done. ” If a baby is born with microcephaly, for example, changing genes in his body most likely will not affect his brain.

"We live in an incredible time when we are learning a lot about biology and genetics with CRISPR, but we still don't know much about the safety of editing human cells with CRISPR."

Anyone who wants to inject themselves with modified DNA runs the risk of not having enough data, or perhaps any real data, about what might happen to make an informed decision. This probably goes without saying: don't try to do this at home. “We live in an incredible time where we are learning a lot about biology and genetics thanks to CRISPR, but we still don't know much about the safety of editing human cells with CRISPR,” says Alex Marson, a microbiology and immunology researcher at the University of California in San Francisco and a CRISPR expert. "It is very important that it goes through rigorous and verified safety tests on every occasion, and is done in a responsible manner."

In Germany, biohacking is now illegal, and a person conducting experiments outside a licensed laboratory can receive a fine of € 50,000 or three years in prison. The World Anti-Doping Agency now bans all forms of gene editing in athletes. However, biohacking is not yet regulated in the US. And Zayner doesn't think he should, he compares fears that humans learn how to use synthetic biology with fears of learning how to use computers in the early 1980s. (He cites a 1981 interview in which Ted Koppel asked Steve Jobs if there was a danger of people being controlled by computers.) Zeiner hopes to continue helping as many people as possible by becoming more "DNA literate."

“I want to live in a world where people genetically modify themselves. I want to live in a world where all these cool things we see on sci-fi TV shows are real. I may be crazy and stupid ... but I think perhaps it really is possible. "

That's why, he injected himself in front of the crowd at the conference. “I want people to stop arguing about whether CRISPR can be used or not, whether it's okay to genetically modify themselves,” he says. “It's too late: I made the choice for you. The controversy is over. Let's continue. Let's use genetic engineering to help people. Or give them purple skin. "