By Dr.Mark Stengler, NMD, MS.
Your DNA which contains your genes, is nothing less than amazing. Healthy genes are essential for preventing illness. Modern research has shown that a healthy diet and lifestyle support healthy genes.
A Sophisticated Communication System
The genetic code in your 60 to 100 trillion cells is a unique language system! In fact, it is a language system that contains instructional information. According to the American Society of Human Genetics, the DNA inside your cells is an instruction manual that tells the body how to build and regulate cellular and organ activities. Along these lines, the National Human Genome Research Institute states that DNA is information and is like “printed text.”
Amazing Genetic Facts
- Following are some amazing facts about your genes:
- Every cell in your body contains approximately 6 billion bases (letters).
- The coded information is contained in the cell nucleus, a space smaller than 1/6000th the size of a pinhead.
- DNA in each cell stretched out is six and a half feet long. That is enough human DNA to go from here to the sun and back more than 300 times.
- A single gene has about 50,000 parts. Our genome has about 25,000 genes. Each gene has more than one function.
- DNA can coil, uncoil, replicate, protect and repair itself, and use energy (ATP). It is self-regulating and multi-dimensional.
- DNA is the most powerful and efficient data storage unit known to humankind. According to Scientific American, all the data generated by humanity by 2025 can be stored with DNA storage in the size of a ping-pong ball! It is no wonder scientists are trying to mimic DNA for data storage.
- The National Institute of Health refers to DNA as a language.
- Most of our DNA is involved in regulatory function, while a smaller percentage codes for proteins.
No Junk
Evolutionary biologists used to claim that much of DNA was “junk.” This included the former National Institutes of Health director, Dr. Francis Collins. In 2018 he admitted the term “junk DNA” was incorrect and stated: “We don’t use that term anymore…and that DNA “turns out to be doing stuff.” Research scientists worldwide have been involved in The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements project (ENCODE), supported by the National Human Genome Research Institute, a U.S. government agency. This consortium of top DNA scientists involved in ENCODE has refuted the notion of junk DNA in their published research.
DNA could not have originated by randomness. All living things have DNA. Since DNA is a language containing instructional information, it would have initially required a mind (Creator). Instructional information always comes from a mind and never from randomness.
Feed Your Genes
Much research in the past decade has demonstrated that diet, lifestyle, and avoidance of toxins can impact our DNA expression. One area of exciting research is the benefit of healthy foods, which essentially provide information through nutrients and phytonutrients to the genes. The exciting field of nutritional epigenetics has revealed that the expression of human genes can be regulated to prevent and fight disease through the information passed from healthy foods, particularly plant foods, and fish. Most Americans receive the wrong information from processed foods and toxins that relay dysfunctional information to our genes. As a result of this faulty messaging from the wrong choice of foods, there is a breakdown in cellular and organ functioning. Just like one can improve the functioning of a computer system by improving the coding software program, one can improve the functioning of the human body with upgraded information from healthy foods. Meal planning, such as the Mediterranean Diet, or any diet that increases plant food consumption, is going to support healthy epigenetic changes. In addition, nutrient deficiencies can be supported with targeted, high-grade nutritional supplements.
References
A brief guide to genomics. Genome.gov. https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/A-Brief-Guide-to-Genomics.
Anderson W. Building blocks of the genetic code. Building Blocks of the Genetic Code. https://www.ashg.org/discover-genetics/building-blocks/.
DNA sequencing. Genome.gov. https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/DNA-Sequencing.
Ionkov L, Settlemyer B. DNA: The Ultimate Data-Storage Solution. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dna-the-ultimate-data-storage-solution/.
Sanford, John C. Genetic Entropy. FMS Publications, 2014.
Zimmer C. 2018. Is Most of Our DNA Garbage? Nytimes.com. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/magazine/is-most-of-our-dna-garbage.html
Dr. Mark Stengler NMD, MS, is a bestselling author in private practice in Encinitas, California, at the Stengler Center for Integrative Medicine. His newsletter, Dr. Stengler’s Health Breakthroughs, is available at www.americasnaturaldoctor.com His clinic website is www.markstengler.com