For decades scientists and physicians have been telling us to eat right and exercise as a way to reduce our risk of disease - now there is a genetic correlation.
Dean Ornish and his colleagues at UCSF have really uncorked the bottle. They assayed healthy prostate tissue from 30 men before and after a major lifesytle change that included diet, exercise, stress reduction, and psychotherapy. What they found was amazing - several of the genes associated with driving cancer cell division were down regulated and while genes associated with anti-cancer immune function were up-regulated.
Genetic expression was altered by behavioral change in healthy tissue. While this is not earth shattering data; the before/after nature of this study is somewhat unique (in humans).
What I find intriguing about this report is its possible parallels with spiritual transformation. Anyone who has been around the church for very long as seen people whose lives have been dramatically altered by a spiritual experience.
My question is this: If changed behavior can alter gene expression; can spiritual transformation of behavior do the same thing? Is one of the benefits of going to church regularly the gene expression that it evokes? Does altered gene expression lead to changes in behavior? Is this one of the mechanisms God uses to work the miraculous?
I am not trying to explain miracles really - or be too reductionist - I am just asking the questions.
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Just found your little web hideout here - nice. Will list it :)
I think the whole area of spirituality as it relates to biochemistry, psychology, physiology, & sociology, is fascinating and something the Christian world seems to be wakening up to. It seems dangerous and almost a little heretical, but sometimes you have to almost lose your faith to find it. (Ok, I've read too much McLaren lately...)
Dangerous - maybe. Heretical? Only for the fundamentalists in both camps. Wait - does that sound a little too McLarenish? ;-)
YOU ASK...."If changed behavior can alter gene expression; can spiritual transformation of behavior do the same thing?"
My hunch is we will discover this in more research. The question I have is this: can changed behavior over the generations alter the genes we pass on to our children? Can we actually behave in such a way that we pass on to our children genetic inclinations to similar behavior? "unto the third and fourth generations?" Hmmmmm
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