Behaviors That Alter Your Genes to Improve Your Health & Performance | Dr. Melissa Ilardo
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My guest is Dr. Melissa Ilardo, Ph.D., professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Utah. We discuss the interplay between genes and behaviors, including how certain behaviors can improve resilience by changing gene and organ function, as well as natural selection events happening in humans today.
We also discuss the immune system–related reasons people find the smells of potential mates attractive—or not.
We explore how physical and psychological traits are passed from one generation to the next, and the specific behaviors that can influence gene expression to improve health and performance.
Melissa explains her lab’s pioneering research on breath-hold training and how activation of the dive reflex through breath holding can significantly improve oxygen availability by changing spleen size and function.
We also delve into the medical uses and ethics of gene editing to cure disease in both babies and adults.
For those interested in genes and inheritance, human performance, immune system function, and natural selection, this episode illustrates the remarkable interplay between human nature and nurture.
Articles
- Persistent epigenetic differences associated with prenatal exposure to famine in humans (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America)
- MHC-dependent mate preferences in humans (Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)
- Superior underwater vision in a human population of sea gypsies (Current Biology)
- Physiological and Genetic Adaptations to Diving in Sea Nomads (Cell)
- An Erythropoietin-Independent Mechanism of Erythrocytic Precursor Proliferation Underlies Hypoxia Tolerance in Sea Nomads (Frontiers in Physiology)
- Genetic and training adaptations in the Haenyeo divers of Jeju, Korea (Cell Reports)
- Human adaptation to extreme environmental conditions (Current Opinion in Genetics & Development)
Other Resources
- Mendelian Inheritance (National Institutes of Health)
- Epigenetics (University of Utah)
- Human evolution picture (History)
- Nomads of the sea: Bajau Laut tribe (BBC Reel)
- Culture of Jeju Haenyeo (UNESCO)
- X-Men (IMDb)
- A Beautiful Mind (IMDb)
- Rain Man (IMDb)
- Spellbound (IMDb)
- Guinness World Records – Mental Calculation World Cup Championship (TikTok)
- Orchid Health
Huberman Lab Episodes Mentioned
People Mentioned
- Gregor Mendel: Austrian botanist, biologist, monk, father of modern genetics
- Svante Pääbo: Swedish geneticist, Max Planck Institute, Nobel Laureate
- Mark Healey: surfer, free diver
- Joo-Young Lee: professor, college of human ecology, Seoul National University
- Eliud Kipchoge: marathoner, Olympic gold medalist
- John Nash: American mathematician, Nobel Laureate, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia
- Oliver Sacks: British neurologist, naturalist, author
About this Guest
Dr. Melissa Ilardo
Melissa Ilardo, Ph.D., is a professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Utah.
This transcript is currently under human review and may contain errors. The fully reviewed version will be posted as soon as it is available.
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