Summarize research conducted in order to identify how epigenetic changes might affect the risks of depression and suicide in certain individuals. Comment on the limitations of this study
What will be an ideal response?
Scientists studied whether epigenetic changes might play a role in the fact that child abuse and other early-life hardships increase the risk of depression and suicide. To see whether differences in maternal care in humans causes changes in the stress receptor gene (GR gene) as it does in rats, samples of the hippocampus were obtained after death in three groups: (1) suicide victims with a history of child abuse, (2) suicide victims with no history of abuse, and (3) victims who died suddenly but not by suicide. High levels of methylation were found in the GR promoter in suicide victims with a history of child abuse but not in the other two groups. The results are consistent with other studies using rats and suggest that epigenetic mechanisms might respond to the social environment and alter the stress response later in life. However, because the only tissue samples examined were from adults, it is uncertain if these epigenetic modifications to the GR promoter occurred during prenatal development or in early childhood.
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Match the following items with the correct phrases.
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1.A
2.B
3.C
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The ________ of a virion determines the type of cell it enters.
A. nucleic acid B. matrix proteins C. glycoproteins D. lipid molecules E. shape