Watch ted talk. Read classmates responses and create a summary of classmates responses.

Discuss his statement that “DNA isn’t just a sequence of letters; it’s not just a script. DNA is a dynamic movie in which our experiences are being written.” How does this relate to Gottlieb’s theory of probabilistic epigenesis?

1.Gottlieb’s probabilistic epigenesis is an aspect of the development of an organism that said to be dependent on the bidirectional influences of interacting biological and environmental forces that form a larger system. According to Moshe Szyf, the research about the baby rats who got groomed more often by their mother indicated an improvement in their adult years like stress level and sexual behaviors. In contrast, the one who did not get groomed at all (or not too often) had higher stress levels later in life. This result relates to Gottlieb’s probabilistic epigenesis that the environmental force influences an organism’s biological system during the development process. Szyf stated that if we can program our DNA, then we can also deprogram it because “DNA isn’t just a sequence of letters, it’s not just a script.” Our DNA has two layers, the old one was programmed by our ancestors and is fixed, but the other layer called epigenetic is the adaptable layer that is dynamic and variant. We can change our DNA and reprogram it with the good ones, this also represents the other aspect of Gottlieb’s theory that the biological force can also influence the environmental system. And overall, organisms’ development process that includes biological and environmental factors are intrinsically intertwined and we can always change one of them to fix the other.

2.Moshe Szyfs’ statement was very relatable to Gottliebs Theory of Probabilistic Epigenetics. Gottliebs theory proposes that development is influenced or activate depending on each individuals biology or because of influences from their environment. He claimed that there was bidirectional interactions between psychological and biological factors. Szyfs’ statement “DNA isn’t just a sequence of letters; it’s not just a script” can relate to Gottliebs’ theory because our DNA is not just predetermined as previously thought but it was also influenced by our experiences. As he spoke in the beginning of his Ted Talks lecture he gave the example of pup rats & their mothers grooming behaviors and how that affected DNA. The pups that were raised by the foster mother who groomed well exhibited similar behaviors even though they were reared by mothers who groomed poorly. This affected how the genes were expressed. Of Szyfs statement: “DNA is a dynamic movie in which our experiences are being written.” I believe that relates to Gottliebs theory in the sense that our environment helps “direct”our DNA in its movie of development. Dependent on what kind of rat mother the pups were born to and groomed by affected the grooming behavior of the pups later in life. He provided examples of DNA methylation that showed how environmental factors such as stress during pregnancy or being famished can affect the genes and ultimately the behaviors that result from those interactions.

3.Moshe Szyf’s and Gilbert Gottlieb had somewhat similar views on the ideas involving development in regard to epigenetics. Gottlieb was well known for his theory of probabilistic epigenesis stating that an organism’s development stems from influences of both biological and environmental factors. This is similar to Szyf’s statement that “DNA isn’t just a sequence of letters; it’s not just a script. DNA is a dynamic movie in which our experiences are being written.” In other words, our experiences can influence our DNA, specifically methylation levels making us more prone to specific behaviors. To example this very point he talked about cocaine addiction, and he proposed that after first exposure our DNA begins to change due to the interaction, so it is essentially primed to want/need cocaine upon later exposure. That’s where the idea that DNA can be manipulated comes into play. Even if we cannot activate a gene, perhaps it is possible to deactivate one. He did exactly this by giving rats something that either raised or lowered their DNA methylation rate and found that rats who were given the methylation lowering dose were less prone to show any type of addiction or physical dependence on cocaine. Thus showing that epigenetics may be able to change mental or physical ailments by understanding and being able to take out “parts of the movie” and create a more pleasing outcome.

4. Moshe Szyf’s statement that “DNA isn’t just a sequence of letters; it’s not just a script is very similar to Gottlieb’s theory. Gottlieb’s theory of probabilistic and Moshe Szyf’s statement both share the mutual idea that humans share the same genetics as their previous ancestors. Although they both agree on this concept, there is a range of differences between entities. These differences are known as epigenetics. Epigenetics is the study of changes in organisms from modification and gene expression. Meaning, such individuals can share the same genetics and be different. Gene modification and expression are beneficial for survival of species.

5.After watching the he TED talk by Moshe Szyf on epigenetics, when he states the statement that “DNA isn’t just a sequence of letters; its not just a script. DNA is a dynamic movie in which our experiences are being written.” This relates to Gottliebs theory of probabilistic epigenesis by basically defining the Gottliebs theory of probabilistic epigenesis. Both Moshe Szyf’s and Gilbert Gottlieb had almost identical ideas to epigenesis. It has been proven that our DNA is not fixed and is able to be changed in certain ways for example after giving birth or before giving birth. Also I learned that we have the same genes that our ancestors had from thousands of years ago, but even though a person can come out to be different than the other plays a role in methylation or acetylation which can either increase or decrease gene expression.

6. Gilbert Gottlieb’s theory of probabilistic epigenesis is a fertile ground for further theoretical construction in developmental science. It fills in the gap in the domineering empiricism and honoring of inductive generalization that dominates psychology in the beginning of the 21st century, by offering a basic deductive framework for guiding the efforts of developmental science (Valsiner, Jaan). Moshe Szyf’s idea of epigenetics is very close to Gottlieb’s. Moshe explains how rats who were licked and cared for more by their mothers were less stressed adults compared to those who weren’t. This explains why he says, “DNA is a dynamic movie in which our experiences are being written.” By that he means that experiences and environment have a huge impact on the person that we become as well as the genes that we share with our ancestors and those can change as they are not fixed.

7. The speaker says that “DNA is a dynamic movie in which our experiences are written.” This can be explain by the example he discussed in his lecture. He explains that in rats, it did not matter the genetic makeup of the biological mother of the rat. He found that the rats personality was largely determined by how the mother cared for the rat. In this example, he shows that the DNA given from the biological mother is not a set script that determines how the offspring will be. The DNA is open for change as the environment and everything the offspring experiences can affect how they will be. Gottlieb’s theory of probabilistic epigenesis states that an organism’s development is dependent on both their environment and biological make up. This theory applies to this statement in that the DNA is not just a static script. Even though our DNA is the biological makeup that we inherit from our parents, it is open to change and is dynamic. The environment can mold it and ultimately affect our development. Therefore, our DNA is greatly impacted by our biological make up and environment working hand in hand.