Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex!
Psalm 139:14 NLT
"Epigenetics has been rising in esteem contemporaneously with the decline of the Central Dogma of genetics (that DNA is the master control in the cell). Just as the pianist gets the applause and not
Frank Gannon wrote a most interesting essay in the journal EMBO Reports, titled, “The piano and the pianist.” Gannon, an Australian who was the former director of a medical research institute in Brisbane, was not writing about the performing arts. He wanted to introduce a new analogy to overcome “the ubiquitous ‘DNA is the blueprint of life’ interpretation of biology,” repeated by some who downplay the elements in the cell that give an organism its dynamic responsiveness to the environment.
Gannon denies that our health is genetically determined: i.e., if we have a certain genetic defect, we will get the disease. That is not entirely true, he says as he details the analogy.
"The function of each piano is defined by its 88 keys, but different pianos have different tones and timbres. Some pianos have defects that distort some notes. These could be at the little-used periphery of the keyboard or they could be more central. If the middle C was out of tune, it could be very jarring for the listener in a solo lyrical piece but it may be more subtle if it is part of complex chords. More importantly, though, it is the way the pianist plays the piano that will define the outcome as a pleasure or as discordant. Each pianist selects the tempo and the mood and may even compensate for a dud note."
Q: How Does the Analogy Relate to Biology?
Writes Gannon, “If the keyboard is the genetic code, the piano is the epigenetic context that interprets the blueprint of life and varies the outcome.” He discusses specific ways cells “perform” the genome.
--DNA is wrapped in chromatin made of histone proteins that can be tagged with markers like methyl or acetyl groups. 
--Parts can be phosphorylated or tagged with ubiquitin proteins.
--A host of accessory proteins switch genes on and off, responding to cues from the environment.
*Indeed, “a growing number of regulatory RNAs create a bewildering combination of possibilities that define the performance of the cell and ultimately of the individual.”
Gannon ends with a cadenza and coda:
"As we analyze the beneficial effects of a healthy microbiome and lifestyle, we are looking for answers to why these work. What does the microbiome in the gut provide the organism with to improve health? What are the molecular consequences of exercise such that the total organism and not just the muscles work better? How does diet modify the health of individuals? How does excess fat impact functions in other tissues? More results and more insights will inevitably highlight the crucial role of the epigenome as the connection between the environment and the genome. The piano remains important, but the pianist will finally move into the limelight."
David Coppedge/CEH