Episode 311 - New Science of Epigenetics

Our DNA doesn’t rigidly determine our health and disease prospects, as the previous generation of geneticists believed.

According to the new science of epigenetics, our genes are shaped by what we think and what we do. An endless supply of new studies is showing that the vast majority of our genes are fluid and dynamic. Our genetic profile may signal an inherited vulnerability to a disease, but those genes cannot predict your future. Instead, our daily choices and lifestyle behaviors determine whether these vulnerable genes will be switched on or switched off. And that means our actions have a direct and powerful effect on our genes, changing their expression so that we can achieve optimal health. This short but profound book by a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine introduces you to this exciting new field, and reveals how each of us has a profound ability to influence our genes for the better.

Kenneth R. Pelletier, PhD, MD is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Department of
Medicine; Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Department of
Psychiatry at the University of California School of Medicine (UCSF) in San Francisco. At
the University of California School of Medicine. He is Director of the Corporate Health
Improvement Program (CHIP) which is a collaborative research program between CHIP
and 15 of the Fortune 500 corporations including Ford, Oracle, Prudential, Apple, Dow,
Lockheed Martin, Pepsico, IBM, American Airlines and NASA. He also serves as Chairman
of the American Health Association (AHA) and is a Vice President with American Specialty
Health (ASH).
Prior to these positions, from 2001 to 2016, Dr. Pelletier served as Clinical Professor of
Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Department of Family and Community
Medicine and Professor of Public Health, at the University of Arizona School of Medicine.
From 1990 through 2001, Dr. Pelletier was a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the
Stanford University School of Medicine; was Director of the Stanford Corporate Health
Improvement Program (SCHIP); and Director of the NIH funded Complementary and
Alternative Medicine Program at Stanford (CAMPS). From 1974 until joining the Stanford
University School of Medicine in 1990, Dr. Pelletier held a dual appointment as an
Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine, and in the Department of
Psychiatry at the University of California School of Medicine (UCSF) in San Francisco.