On January 28, Hsien-Hsien Lei wrote about the American Journal of Medical Genetics Special Issue on Children and Genetics. One item in particular caught my attention: a discussion of the psychosocial effects of predictive genetic testing in minors:

Harms described included knowledge of future illness, witnessing distress in parents, negative effects on family relationships and friendships, effects upon employment and school, experiencing regret, feeling guilty and having to confront difficult issues…

The study does describe beneficial effects as well. But does the harm that comes from knowing you may contract a disease outweigh the benefits?

In additional, there’s the self-fulfilling prophecy question:

Does a belief that you may contract a disease increase the likelihood that you will?

The work we do at VortexDNA builds on the foundation laid by epigenetics, literally, ‘above-genetics’: the study of the factors that determine whether our genes get turned on or off and how they eventually manifest.

Epigenetics offers an understanding of why people with certain genes get cancer while others remain tumor-free. It brings a greater depth to the notion that we are determined by our genes—in reality, there are myriad factors that contribute to the behavior of each of our genes. Recent science shows quite clearly that we hold a far greater ability than you may have thought to choose how our genes behave.

Bruce Lipton outlines this concept in his book quite clearly. Single cells respond to direct stimuli, like moving toward food or away from toxins. Multicellular communities, like people, behave a bit differently. In order to capitalize on the advantages offered through belonging to a gang, cells agree to answer to a leader: the brain. If there’s a conflict between the cell’s isolated imperative and the brain’s command, the brain wins. As Lipton says:

Our responses to environmental stimuli are indeed controlled by perceptions, but not all of our learned perceptions are accurate. Not all snakes are dangerous! Yes, perception “controls” biology, but… these perceptions can be true or false. Therefore, we would be more accurate to refer to these controlling perceptions as beliefs.

Beliefs control biology!

This concept is tremendously empowering. It means that we’re not subject to the whims of a DNA that we have no control over. It means we can choose the type of life we want to live, right down to our level of health. Our beliefs and our intention are directly causative of our experience.

At VortexDNA, we’ve taken the concept of epigenetics and the relationship between belief and biology, and explored it mathematically. What we’ve found is this:

Human intention is governed by the mathematics of complex systems.

Those same beliefs that control our biology; that same intention that determines our experience, can be expressed mathematically, with predictive characteristics.

This math can represent the level of alignment between two people. It can determine the strength of a company’s values, or how likely you might be to enjoy a particular book.

Knowing that your beliefs control your biology, would you still choose genetic testing? Would you choose to have your children genetically tested? Or would you invest your effort in consciously designing the life you want?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 5:59 am and is filed under Genetics, Epigenetics, VortexDNA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.