can we influence our dna?
How chronic stress is harming our DNA. Elissa Epel is studying how personality, stress processes and environment affect our DNA â and how we might lessen damaging effects. Money problems, a heavy work load, caregiving â such increasingly common pressures have helped make stress a part of modern American life.
Experiences Affect How Genes Are Expressed. Inside the nucleus of each cell in our bodies, we have chromosomes, which contain the code for characteristics that pass to the next generation. Within these chromosomes, specific segments of genetic code, known as genes, make up long, double-helix strands of DNA.