In case you are worried, the technology to characterize the epigenome is also coming down the pike. At present, the throughput is a bit sluggish, but the pace will no doubt accelerate, and soon platforms will be available for genetic and epigenetic chipping. I am not sure how providers will be able to transfer all of this information to their patients. I can just imagine a conversation like the following: “Well, Mr. Jones, we just ran your genome and we have good news and bad news. The good news is that you have a cytosine at position number 163 of your TNF gene. The bad news is that it is methylated.” Good luck in explaining that one.
Throw Genetics to the Wind
At the end of the meeting, the attendees took buses downtown for a farewell party in an old schoolhouse that had been converted for conferences and dinner functions. Unlike the airport, which was situated beneath the roar of jets, the schoolhouse was an imposing building ornately decorated with spires and turrets and felt like old Europe. The banquet room had a high vaulted ceiling of rich mahogany, and the walls were covered with heraldic shields; carved wood heads of Arabs, Indians, and Africans; and statues representing the young girls who were the first female students of the school in the 1800s. From the high windows of the banquet hall, we could look out over the city, whose lights flickered and sparkled as darkness descended, and the chill of European winter forced its way in.
At the end of a lovely dinner, I had a choice of kirsch, grappa, or cognac. I should have passed on an after-dinner drink because these libations are distillates filled with toxic chemicals worthy of the Love Canal. I am sure that one of these potions is more suited to my genetics than another; no doubt all three could do serious damage to my epigenome, scorching my intestines or pickling my brain. Nevertheless, I had just attended a wonderful meeting, I was with good friends, and my spirits were soaring under the influence of the Prosecco and Amarone that I had downed earlier in the evening.
While an ounce of prevention can be worth a pound of cure, it can also be a downer. So, imbued with the spirit of personalized matter and emboldened with the power of free will, I did what many people do having pondered their genetics. I decided to drink. I took the grappa.
