Genetic Influences on Behavior, Environment, and Human Evolution Explained

Genetics 0:21 0
“Dr. Allardo is a world-renowned expert in human genetics and epigenetics. She conducts pioneering studies on how our behavior and the environment can modify our gene expression.”

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Genetics 0:32 0
“Today marks the first time on the Hubberman Lab podcast that we really explore human genetics, epigenetics, and how behavior shapes gene expression across generations.”

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Genetics 1:09 0
“The mate you would select is the mate who has the immune system composition that is most different from yours. And you would know that on the basis of their smell and how attractive their smell is to you compared to the smell of other people.”

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Genetics 3:04 0
“How much of our DNA is modifiable by our environment and what we do, what we choose to do in particular, because that's most of what we're going to emphasize today.”

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Sun protection 6:43 0
“We know that as you get more sunlight exposure, in particular ultraviolet light exposure, that eyes will darken.”

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Genetics 11:03 0
“these are changes you know little modifications to the genome um that happen by things actually molecules actually attaching to the genome and changing how genes express um that can be passed down.”

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Genetics 11:45 0
“So, there was a famine um that affected Dutch people several hundred years ago, I think. And uh and that was actually also kind of recorded in these in these epigenetic changes.”

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Genetics 12:39 0
“And these are changes that until recently we thought would take, you know, 5,000 years, 10,000 years, um, at least. And now we're starting to understand that maybe that can happen in as short as a thousand years, 2,000 years.”

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Genetics 13:52 0
“So they did a very similar study in humans and humans also are drawn to other humans that have these differences.”

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Genetics 16:47 0
“people are um intermaring andor producing children with people that whose backgrounds genetic backgrounds are very different than their own.”

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Genetics 17:47 0
“when you have two individuals um who are closely related, you know, that dramatically increases the chance that they're both carrying um you know a variant that has a negative uh impact on on the offspring.”

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Genetics 19:26 0
“the Tibetan high altitude adaptation is actually believed to have arisen from the crossing of humans with another, um, early homminid group called Denise.”

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Genetics 23:48 0
“It takes a lot of generations of offspring to evolve a given trait, but it takes very few to devolve a trait.”

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Genetics 24:21 0
“Most mutations are delotterious. Most mutations cause problems.”

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Genetics 23:36 0
“So, you know, the idea that evolution is driving any species, but especially ours, towards some optimum, um, I think is inherently flawed.”

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Genetics 25:03 0
“And you know, it's not particularly advantageous um like I mentioned with uh Tibetans until you move into a particular environment or until you start practicing a certain activity like breathold diving.”

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Genetics 30:21 0
“If you get good enough at this, uh, you can live long enough to reproduce and your children will presumably inherit whatever mutation or genetic variants afford this ability.”

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Genetics 30:55 0
“someone who maybe has a variation or has genetic variation that's making them safer at diving um might survive that.”

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Genetics 35:38 0
“So we started thinking about okay you know for natural selection to act in this population it needs some kind of physical trait to act on.”

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Genetics 35:49 0
“which got us looking at the you know the dive reflex or the mamalian dive reflex.”

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Genetics 36:05 0
“your your heart rate slows down um your blood vessels and your extremities constrict uh because you know your fingers will be okay with a little bit less oxygen but your brain really needs that oxygen.”

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Genetics 36:16 0
“So, it's keeping the blood central where you need it the most.”

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Genetics 36:19 0
“and then your spleen contracts. And so, the spleen certainly wasn't the first organ that I thought about when thinking about diving.”

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Exercise 40:07 0
“our spleens contract when we exercise to a lesser extent.”

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Circadian rhythm 41:08 0
“There seems to be something about the face being cold. Yeah, there's um it's stimulation of the veagal nerve that is in part triggering this response which you know runs through your face.”

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Genetics 42:26 0
“I think it's much more likely that it was some very long ago ancestral, you know, protomamal that was doing some kind of diving. And because of that, this response is present to varying degrees in all modern mammals.”

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Gut health 43:12 0
“the effects of probiotics on the gut microbiome. And it now includes several specific clinically studied probiotic strains that have been shown to support both digestive health and immune system health, as well as to improve bowel regularity and to reduce bloating.”

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Hydration 44:41 0
“Proper hydration is critical for optimal brain and body function. Even a slight degree of dehydration can diminish cognitive and physical performance.”

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Hydration 45:05 0
“I dissolve one packet of element in about 16 to 32 ounces of water when I first wake up in the morning. And I drink that basically first thing in the morning.”

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Genetics 47:13 0
“So we discovered that they have larger spleens. Um so you know I mentioned the spleen's role in diving. Um it's it's increasing your they sometimes people call it a biological scuba tank. You know it's increasing the amount of oxygen available to you. So you know our hypothesis was that they would have larger spleens because a larger spleen presumably means longer diving, safer diving.”

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Genetics 48:39 0
“I don't know if it's just that the populations that I've worked with have some kind of genetic factors that override that change.”

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Genetics 49:17 0
“The gene that we found that was evolving in the population correlates with higher than average thyroid hormone levels.”

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Hormone balance 49:48 0
“because of these higher I hesitate to say elevated because that's a clinical term higher than average thyroid hormone levels um people are prod or the you know the mice the humans whoever it is are producing more red blood cells”

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Exercise 50:28 0
“One is in the performance enhancement context. Your runner, maybe there's a way, I'm not suggesting this as a protocol that you know like getting your face into some cold water, holding your breath could afford you a kind of a boost.”

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Disease prevention 52:10 0
“And if there's anything I can do to increase the function of my immune system, including sleep, exercise, sunlight, all those things, uh, but in particular, if I feel like I'm traveling in an additional amount or not sleeping as well, I'd be willing to do pretty much anything within the realm of reason to improve my immune system vigor.”

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Exercise 53:58 0
“Yeah, I mean, it's it's so low impact and and such a natural way to, you know, to to move to exercise that um I yeah, I think especially as we age, it would be a really wonderful way to to stay fit and healthy.”

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Genetics 54:13 0
“has the size of spleens, or rather the genes related to um what you're talking about, um has that been correlated with whether or not people evolved from coastal versus more um central regions of of continents?”

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Genetics 54:32 0
“Um, so you would imagine that anyone living near a coast anywhere would take advantage of this resource. Um, so it would be interesting to see if maybe coastal populations are more likely to carry the genetic variation um that enables this behavior.”

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Cold exposure 59:15 0
“I hear about a lot of guys that will spend dozens of hours picking apart deliberate cold exposure uh when it would take them a fraction of the amount of the time to get into the water.”

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Cold exposure 59:28 0
“In my experience, women are more tolerant of the cold, at least in terms of being willing to embrace it the first time around.”

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Longevity 1:00:52 0
“I'm not going to rule out the possibility that getting into cold water in particular diving or generating the dive reflex with cold water doesn't have a longevity effect, but I don't think there's any direct evidence that it does.”

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Nutrition 1:02:26 0
“They are diving for all kinds of things. Um they're diving for sea urchin, abalone. They also harvest seaweed. Um I've seen them pull up octopus.”

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Nutrition 1:04:46 0
“A huge part of their diet was marine mammals that have really high lipid content. And so they actually evolved to be able to better metabolize those lipids so that it wouldn't, you know, kill them from heart disease or something like that.”

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Genetics 1:05:28 0
“So, we found two different adaptations. Um, and I say adaptation, but there's kind of adaptation in a physiological sense, this thing that you can do by training. Um, or adaptation in a genetic sense. And we have found one of each.”

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Exercise 1:05:42 1
“The training adaptation that we found was that when you dive, your heart rate slows down to try to conserve oxygen. So, their heart rate through a lifetime of training slows down even more.”

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Genetics 1:07:26 0
“And so then we also found this genetic adaptation that we think is driven by the fact that they're diving through pregnancy.”

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Genetics 1:10:19 0
“Is it the case that many miscarriages, if not most miscarriages, are because the mutations that arise would have been destructive at some point post-natally after birth.”

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Genetics 1:10:46 0
“I mean, you know, I'm not a maternal health specialist, but I do know that most mutations create non-viable embryos.”

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Genetics 1:11:27 0
“So, so uh I mean uh nature doesn't have a conscious logic in the same way that we think but but the the genetic decision therefore is to uh is to stop cell proliferation and the pregnancy is terminated.”

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Genetics 1:16:17 0
“human mate selection is in part genetic selection.”

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Genetics 1:20:13 0
“I think that's a logical fallacy that has stopped a lot of or has prevented a lot of research from being done in these populations because just because you can train someone to be at the same level, you know, as someone else doesn't mean that that person didn't have an advantage.”

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Genetics 1:23:24 0
“Can we talk about why that's so? Are they inheriting some sort of red blood cell trait? Is it the lightbonedness combined with that?”

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Genetics 1:24:24 0
“I think this is an excellent example of there's clearly something biological making people from this part of the world, you know, really excellent runners.”

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Genetics 1:26:43 0
“Is it within the realm of reality based on what we know about human genetics that there could be genes that select for say um rapid updating of visual scenes combined with um short-term memory or whatever duration of memory is required that would afford certain people certain advantages in this based on inheritance?”

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Genetics 1:27:17 0
“there's an interesting correlation between uh like between people in STEM fields and um having family members with autism.”

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Genetics 1:28:17 0
“Oliver Saxs, I think, wrote about um how people with Tourettes may have faster processing speeds.”

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Genetics 1:34:28 0
“if you tell a child what they should or shouldn't do based on, you know, their genes, I think it's a really dangerous thing or or potentially you could motivate them through that.”

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Genetics 1:35:31 0
“We really have very little evidence that intelligence is heritable.”

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Genetics 1:37:14 0
“genetically modified babies through the use of genetic engineering. Now, on the backdrop of this, up until now, we've basically been talking about genetic selection through partner selection, through all sorts of things. So, that there are kind of indirect ways to genetically select. I think people forget that. But here we're talking about deliberate gene insertion or removal in embryos creating genetically modified humans.”

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Genetics 1:38:25 0
“the idea of the use of crisper to improve babies or to protect them against potential diseases is not common place or if it is it's not discussed.”

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Genetics 1:38:51 0
“you could think of parents who are maybe carrying a mutation. They don't want their kids to have Huntington's for instance, and you could potentially fix that gene.”

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Genetics 1:43:21 0
“say you get your baby's genome sequenced and it's going to that baby is going to be blind.”

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Genetics 1:43:47 0
“Dog genetics is fascinating. Uh they're uh the selection seems to be for phenotype, but also behavioral type.”

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Genetics 1:45:45 0
“ad mixture is just when uh different ancestry populations mix.”

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Genetics 1:48:50 0
“How might that be impacting our genes?”

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Most important takeaways of the video

  1. Genetics, specifically human genetics and epigenetics, is a key focus of the analysis, with discussions on how behavior and the environment can modify gene expression.
  2. The impact of genetic diversity on human mate selection, including the influence of immune system composition and olfactory perception, is highlighted.
  3. Environmental factors and personal behaviors are emphasized for their ability to modify DNA expression, with a focus on the speed of genetic evolution.
  4. The analysis touches on the effects of sunlight exposure on eye pigmentation and the role of genetic adaptations in activities like diving and pregnancy.
  5. Discussions on genetic traits influencing athletic performance, intelligence heritability, and the potential use of genetic engineering for disease prevention and modifying human genes are also included.

Introduction to Genetics and Epigenetics

Dr. Melissa Ardo specializes in human genetics and epigenetics, focusing on how behavior and environment affect gene expression. The understanding of genetic changes and their inheritance, notably epigenetic modifications, is a primary theme throughout the discussions.

Gentic Influence on Behavior and Environment

Research indicates that human behavior and mate selection are guided in part by genetic compatibility, inferred through olfactory senses. This genetic diversity is crucial for enhancing immune system variability which is essential for survival and overall health.

Impact of External Factors on Genetics

It is highlighted that external factors like environmental changes, behavior, or even historical events like famines, can lead to significant genetic transformations. These adaptations may occur much faster than previously thought, challenging the conventional timelines assumed for evolutionary changes.

Health and Genetic Traits

Certain genetic traits confer specific health benefits or adaptations to environments, like the Tibetan adaptation to high altitudes potentially acquired from ancient Denisovans. Conversely, close genetic relationships increase the risk of deleterious mutations affecting offspring.

Understanding Genetic Mutations and Evolution

Most genetic mutations are harmful, reducing the viability of offspring and affecting reproductive success. Evolution doesn’t necessarily strive towards optimization but is a response to environmental demands, which may favor specific genetic traits under certain conditions.

Genetics in Human Evolution and Adaptation

Interbreeding within human and other hominid populations such as the Neanderthals and Denisovans has introduced beneficial genetic variations. These encompass traits such as the ability to thrive in divergent environmental niches—from high altitudes to deep waters.

Genetic Engineering and Future Prospects

The burgeoning field of genetic engineering, including technologies like CRISPR, brings forth the possibility of directly manipulating genetic material to eliminate diseases or enhance certain human capabilities. However, ethical considerations and the long-term impacts of such technologies remain a subject of intense debate and cautious exploration.