Blog 1 Post I

Poverty's Vicious Cycle Can Affect Our Genes

Gobnik, Alison. "Poverty's Vicious Cycle Can Affect Our Gene." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. <http://online.wsj.com/articles/genes-play-a-role-in-poverty-1411567833>.

 

           Through out the course of this class Hunger & Homelessness, as well as many of my Child Advocacy courses, we have discussed the affect poverty has on individuals, predominately children. I found this very intresting article by Alison Gobnik from The Wall Street Journal that posed a concept of how poverty can affect our genes. It may sound far fetched to some, but per knowledge obtained from many child developement courses, I completely agree with this concept. The article states high levels of stress is one of the main causes of developmental delay. An experiment with rats and their reactions to stress is conducted, this is to simulate children in poverty with high levels of stress due to hunger, no shelter, lack of money and resources, substance abuse, violence, unfortunately risks to children that are much higher in poverty areas. According to the research a gene is either methylated or demethylated which refers to molecules attaching or lacking to attach to the gene. This alters how the gene influences the cell. This experiment showed how care giving at early ages affected how much the gene was methylated. care giving at early ages is very difficult in homes of low income or homeless because of the amount of problems one is facing during that time, stress also alters how one interacts with other individuals. So children in impoverished areas were at a disadvantage and less care giving and high levels of stress affected their adult life and their development as shown by less genes being methylated.