Bailey Kirkpatrick | Senior Author at What Is Epigenetics

About Bailey Kirkpatrick

Bailey Kirkpatrick is a science writer with a background in epigenetics and psychology with a passion for conveying scientific concepts to the wider community. She enjoys speculating about the implications of epigenetics and how it might impact our perception of wellbeing and the development of novel preventative strategies. When she’s not combing through research articles, she also enjoys discovering new foods, taking nighttime strolls, and discussing current events over a barrel-aged sour beer or cold-brewed coffee.

4 Things You’re Forgetting to Thank Mom For This Mother’s Day

May 8, 2014 Bailey Kirkpatrick

We all know the deal by now: On Mother’s Day we should show appreciation for the years our moms spent raising us, for the years she worked patiently to bestow on us the skills we didn’t even know (or maybe refused to believe) we needed to succeed in life. A lot of the things she did for us are easy to give thanks for because we’ve experienced them first-hand throughout our childhood: reassuring words of wisdom, hot meals on the [more…]

dna methylation babies epigenetics womb development

Genotype and Womb Environment Epigenetically Influence Babies’ Development

May 6, 2014 Bailey Kirkpatrick

A multitude of studies support that the quality of a child’s environment in the womb significantly influences health and development over his or her lifetime. Scientists at the University of Southampton, UK and National University of Singapore have analyzed epigenetic marks on DNA in order to determine how much a baby’s development in the womb is dictated by his or her genotype compared to the mother’s mental and physical health. In the study published in Genome Research, scientists used samples [more…]

Bones of Ancient Relatives Give Us Epigenetic Clues About Ourselves

April 30, 2014 Bailey Kirkpatrick

We already know a lot about early modern humans based on scientific evidence collected from our ancestors, gaining clues from migration patterns and remnants left abandoned for ages. However, very little is known about our prehistoric relatives, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, who lived thousands of years before us. With little evidence on hand and even smaller fragments of their DNA to spare, researchers are using epigenetics to give clues about why our archaic cousins differ from us, despite our very [more…]

dna methylation microRNAs epigenetic inheritance transgenerational

A Father’s Stress Felt for Generations

April 23, 2014 Bailey Kirkpatrick

New scientific research suggests that the negative effects of trauma can be inherited. Fathers may actually transfer the consequences of their early experiences to their children via an epigenetic process. Researchers report that mice that experienced stress early on passed down the negative consequences – depression, underestimation of risk, and upset of metabolism – to their offspring, even if their offspring were not directly exposed to stress or trauma. In a recent study, Isabelle Mansuy and her colleagues at the [more…]

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Articles by Bailey Kirkpatrick

4 Things You’re Forgetting to Thank Mom For This Mother’s Day

Genotype and Womb Environment Epigenetically Influence Babies’ Development

Bones of Ancient Relatives Give Us Epigenetic Clues About Ourselves

A Father’s Stress Felt for Generations

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