It's All Connected: Your Genes, Your Environment, And Your Health

Human health is highly dependent on genetics, yet it is also known to be affected by factors in an individual's environment—and these days that environment is quite stressful. As we shelter in place amid the coronavirus pandemic, anxiety combined with changes in our routines is driving a significant increase in alcohol consumption, and some are experiencing weight gain. On top of all this, due to recent wildfires, the air in many areas is filled with smoke and hazardous particulate matter.

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Long before the events of 2020, scientists were trying to unravel the details of how the separate influences of inheritance and surroundings push and pull against one another to govern traits—such as height, athletic ability, and addictive behavior—and disease risk. Paul Williams, a statistician at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), specializes in investigating the instances where genetics and environment are most closely intertwined. His work focuses on a phenomenon called "quantile-dependent expressivity," wherein the genes that predispose people to certain traits are amplified by environmental factors.

Now he has published three new studies on alcohol consumption, weight gain, and lung health. Each are published in separate journals, but together they suggest that these facets of health are indeed affected by quantile-dependent expressivity, and indicate that people genetically predisposed to greater drinking, weight gain, and difficulty breathing are particularly at risk in the current environment.

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