You may have heard that your genetic code doesn't change. But maybe you didn't know that while your genetic code remains the same, your epigenome changes frequently throughout your life. And your epigenome directs gene expression.

This is great news for science because while fixing genes is tricky business, epigenetic therapy can change the instructions to your cells. While your genetic code remains constant, your epigenome can direct gene expression, turning on the genes that will better support health, and turning off the ones that won't.

"In his book, 'The Biology of Belief', Dr. Lipton explains the foundation of epigenetics, and how the true secret to life does not lie within your DNA, but rather within the mechanisms of the cell membrane. In this way -- which is contrary to conventional medical science -- it is actually the cell’s membrane -- operating in response to environmental signals picked up by the membrane’s receptors -- that control the 'reading' of the genes inside."

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/20/epigenetics-offers-new-approaches-to-degenerative-disease.aspx