Most traits passed down through generations are due to changes in DNA but recently there have been discoveries of histone proteins being inherited. A histone is a protein that creates spools around DNA in order to provide structural support and control whether or not genes turn on.
Lately, researchers found that these proteins can be changed through natural events which results in the protein controlling genes differently. But not only can natural changes to the protein affect how they control genes but those changed genes can also be passed down to future generations. When researchers discovered that theses changed proteins can be passed down to future generations it brought up questions about what they can be related to or have influence over. Some question whether changes to histones may be responsible for particular traits or health conditions. And other thoughts wondering if the proteins can be affected by a person's diet or the amount of stress that they experience.
Knowing that the histone proteins can affect inheritance, researchers decided to test a theory that genes may be controlled throughout generation because of these natural changes. Testing was conducted by changing the histone protein in a yeast with similar gene control mechanisms to a human cell. Observations proved that the effect was inherited by the following generations of yeast cells. With the results of the experiment showing that histone protein spools may be copied and passed down, it proves that DNA changes are not the only reason for inherited traits.
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