The nature vs. nurture debate just got hotter with Deepak Chopra and Rudolph E. Tanzi’s “Super Genes” (out Tuesday from Harmony Books), which looks like it’ll do just as well as their best-selling 2012 tome, “Super Brain.”
The general idea is simple: Genes aren’t as immutable as you may think.
“Gene activity responds to your lifestyle — your thoughts, your feelings, your actions, your stress levels, your diet,” Tanzi, a neuroscientist at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital, tells The Post. Nope, you can’t modify the DNA sequence that’s passed on from your family. But Tanzi notes that “most of what you inherit is written in clay rather than in stone. That means you have a chance to be the sculptor.”
Pushing the reasoning further, the book suggests those changes might be passed on: “Human beings could be the first creatures in the history of life on Earth to self-direct where their evolution is going.”
Their theory is not without its detractors in the scientific community.
“There’s not a shred of evidence that humans can change their genes in a permanent way via changes in our lifestyle,” writes Jerry Coyne, from the University of Chicago’s Department of Ecology & Evolution, in response to Chopra and Tanzi’s big idea.
Stay up-to-date on the biggest health and wellness news with our weekly recap.