What is epigenetics?

Epigenetics are chemical modifications of the DNA in response to different environmental and lifestyle factors such as stress, exercise, diet, and sleep.

Epigenetics does not change the DNA code but changes the activity of genes.

Epigenetics is everywhere

What we eat, when we sleep, how much we exercise, who we interact with: all these factors can cause chemical modifications on genes, turning genes on or off across time.

Epigenetics is unique to a person

Even among genetically identical twins, epigenetics is different due to differences in their environment and/or lifestyle factors. These epigenetic differences in identical twins can lead to differences in health and diseases.

Epigenetics changes over time and is reversible

Epigenetics is a dynamic process and changes over time, for instance before and after exercise or before and after exposure to stress. Also, there is evidence that epigenetics can be reversed by changing the environment.

See how genes are organised in the human body.

What are genetics and genes?

Genetics is the study of our DNA and how our genes can affect our health and well-being. We inherit our DNA code from our parents, and this does not change during our lifetime.

Cell

The human body is made up of trillions of tiny cells.

Chromosome

Each cell comprises of 23 pairs of chromosomes which are made up of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) which in turn are organised into genes

Genes

Humans have around 25,000 genes. Genes instruct the cells how to build parts of the body, how to make proteins and perform specific functions within our body.

DNA

Our DNA code is made up of four base pairs – adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T).

Epigenetics and Athletes

Elite athletes in Australia experience higher levels of continual performance-related stress from an early age if they choose to pursue the goal of representing Australia in their sport.

Specifically examining the psychological and biological markers of athletes’ stress may improve athletes’ abilities to recognise, acknowledge, and adapt to reasonable levels of stress that are a part of the elite athlete experience as well as monitor the possible risks to health and performance.

The elite athlete experience includes many factors that can lead to epigenetic changes and are included below.

Diet

Hydration

Nutrition status

Sleep

Training load

Travel

Competition performance

Interpersonal connectedness

Sport environment

Health

Substance use

Social interactions

Finances

Coaching

Study commitments

Physical robustness

Wellbeing

Psychological state

Team experiences

Biological sensitivity

Disease exposure

Therapeutic drug use

Microbiome

Healthcare

Diurnal / seasonal affects

History of injuries and illness

Epigenetics & Mental Performance in Competition

Future Research

1. AIS is conducting research together with the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to investigate epigenetic markers of stress experienced by our Australian athletes that can be related to mental and physical readiness and performance of athletes in competition.

2. This research is expected to commence in 2022. The project will measure DNA for epigenetics in Australian athletes aged above 16 years. Self-administrable saliva kits will be provided to athletes to collect DNA for epigenetics.

3. The DNA will be extracted from the collected saliva, and will be run on the Illumina EPIC microarrays, the most comprehensive microarrays currently available, proving epigenetics data across 860,000 sites across the genome.

4. Data will be collected 4-times per year over a period of 3- years and track the changes in epigenetic markers which can assess an athlete’s level of biological sensitivity to stress at any given time.

5. Measuring DNA for epigenetics will assist in identifying the best intervention(s) for athletes based on their personalised biological data to optimise their mental and physical preparation and performance in competition.

Research Team

The Australian Institute of Sport and the University of New England have partnered to provide the National High Performance Sports System with evidence-based information on stress and performance in competition.

Associate Professor Divya Mehta

Associate Professor Divya Mehta, PhD, is a geneticist, biostatistician, and team leader of the Stress Genomics Group at the Queensland University of Technology. She co-leads the Sports Systems Domain, Centre for Data Science and Genetic epidemiology and statistical analysis program, Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health, QUT. Divya has published over 80 scientific articles and 4 book chapters in statistics, genomics, and mental health. Divya leads national and international projects investigating epigenetic drivers of mental health and well-being in different populations

Dr Tristan Coulter

Dr Tristan Coulter, PhD, is a senior lecturer in sport psychology at Queensland University of Technology. His expertise broadly focuses on mental toughness and pressure training in sport, and personality profiling of elite level athletes and coaches. He has published over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in these areas. He is also an experienced practitioner, having worked in elite sport for over a decade, including with the England and Wales Cricket Board and Gold Coast Suns Football Club.

Dr Jonathan Peake

Dr Jonathan Peake, PhD, is a senior lecturer in physiology at Queensland University of Technology. He has keen interest in biomarkers of stress in athletes and the physiological basis of post-exercise recovery. He has published a book and several chapters on exercise immunology. He has also published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and has been invited to speak about exercise immunology and inflammation at several international conferences. He has worked closely in conjunction with the Queensland Academy of Sport for over 10 years on several projects relating to post-exercise recovery