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The environment is the Determining Factor for Achievement Rather than Genes
Siddhartha Mukherjee's "Breakthroughs in Epigenetics" examination also supports the
notion that environment is the determining factor for achievement rather than genes. In
Mukherjee's case, his mother, Tulu,, and Bulu were twins,, but the difference in their lives and
destiny was caused by the differences in the external milieu they encountered. While Tulu
married into a prospering family in Delhi, she dared to do so; Bulu's life was more realistic but
growing complicated in Kolkata. It emphasizes that, unlike internal factors like strengths,
weaknesses, goals, and strategies or critical success factors and trends, external factors like
socio-economic environment, opportunities, and social networks contributed significantly to
their successes and paths. Tulu got her family into affluence and opportunities in Delhi due to the
economic growth of that place, and Bulu, on the other hand, was in a place like Kolkata that was
instead facing economic decline and social disturbances. Mukherjee's character, therefore, also
depicts ways in which community aspects, over and beyond one's DNA or parents' traits or
status, largely shape people's achievements and lives.
Epigenetics looks for ways outside forces can affect a gene and elicit differences among
individuals, even if they are clones. This field proves that one can change the activity of genes
without radically changing the genes themselves depending on what the person goes through in
their life. The given epigenetic modifications may affect temperament, thinking abilities, and
stress reactivity, which could help an individual attain career achievements. For instance, the
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experience of getting exposure to adequate environments / or positive relationships in their lives
would trigger genes connected with resilience and learning. This is a clear indication that
although there is a genetic endowment from family background, the actual destiny and
productivity are firmly within the control of the person in question. While genetic determinism
excludes the role of environment and thus makes people believe that they cannot change their
fate because they are genetically predetermined to be a certain way, epigenetics embraces the
changes in genes as well as the environment and that people can rise above their circumstances
to become what they want to become. Appreciating this could help foster people's ability to make
their own choices and do the right things for themselves, and for others too, in their daily
endeavors, build better educational systems and engage in healthy social relationships, thereby
achieving their potential as endowed by genes.
Environmental signals can change genes through epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA
methylation or histone modification control of genes but no change in the DNA sequence. Such
adaptations help people to act differently to address circumstances, which forms personal success
regardless of the genetic heritage of the family. In "Same but Different," Mukherjee offers an
exciting insight into the nature Vs nurture debate through the journey of his mother and her twin
sister Bulu and the role of epigenetics. This twins' case is a perfect example of how genetic
makeup is not solely responsible for the personality a person develops and the destiny they face
in life since the twins were genetically identical. Mukherjee analyzes the discoveries regarding
the mechanisms that shed light on how genes can be switched "on" or "off" by specific
modifications in histone, which provides insights into cellular identity and memory. Epigenetics,
as shown by David Allis, Danny Reinberg, and other scientists, can also change an organism's
actions and bodily characteristics, including changing the behavior of ants. Mukherjee notes,
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"The genome is not a passive blueprint: Selective gene expression enables an individual cell to
obtain its function in the context of developmental process" (2016, p. 103). The information
above demonstrates how genes and the environment interactively influence cell development.
Epigenetics also shows that people can be shaped by outside forces other than their genes
and the environment they grow up in, which explains that people can be successful or fail in life
because of the environment they grew up in. This Mukherjee beautifully portrays through the
behaviors of twin sisters Tulu and Bulu, who due to a shared genetic background, responded
differently to their respective environments. Thus, the change in the living area of Tulu from a
middle-class neighborhood to an affluent area of Delhi gave her chances and formed her into the
sociable and active woman. While the young Bulu was enjoying the freedom of choice and
exploring the modernity of Calcutta in the post-independence era, economic downturn limited
her opportunities and tested her strength. Mukherjee says, 'By the time I was born in 1970, the
sisters' fortunes had started to move in unexpected directions. ’ ‘Calcutta had begun its spiral into
hell. ’ Such a statement illustrates how the economic and social conditions of a community can
shift and how this affects people’s opportunities for upward mobility and success. Though genes
offer a starting point, epigenetic factors show that environment and other external conditions are
paramount to success and reveal that the family’s preconditions can hugely impact possibilities
and achievement in the future.
Siddhartha Mukherjee effectively illustrates the changes we are witnessing in epigenetics
with references to identical twins and researchers such as Danny Reinberg and Shelley Berger.
Mukherjee’s story thus points out that, although people may have the same genes, one’s situation
may still be quite different based on socioeconomic environment and other factors. For example,
he compares the life trajectories of his mother Tulu and her twin sister Bulu; Tulu’s life was
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defined by her Delhi middle-class family and her struggle for a job, whereas Bulu had a more
privileged upbringing in Calcutta and became a doctor. Mukherjee opines, "Calcutta had begun
its spiral into hell," a statement that conveys the importance of socio-political situations in
determining individual narratives (Mukherjee, 2016). Reinberg and Berger have done a profound
study on how specific epigenetic changes provoked by environmental signals rule the castes and
their behaviors in ant colonies, as Mukherjee underlines. Their work that changes histone
modifications for altering an ant's behaviors explains how epigenetics can change an organism's
role in a species, thus rejecting genetic determinism related to inheritance. This, in a nutshell,
captures the possibilities for change, as Mukherjee puts it: 'The behavior of these ''pseudo-
queens' changes dramatically,' 'Epigenetic' is the word that linked phenotype to environment
(Mukherjee, 2016). Using these stories Mukherjee explains how the impact of cultural forces
intertwines with the biological determining human and communal fates.
However, it is crucial to find out how success may depend on some factors other than the
family heritage, and the article by Siddhartha Mukherjee in The New Yorker entitled ‘The Gene
Bearers: Can inherited traits shape a man’s destiny?’ provides some precious information in this
respect discussing the experience of the Indonesian twins Bulu and Tulu as well as several
Minnesotan cases. In Mukherjee’s novel, the author describes the shifts between the lives of
Bulu and Tulu – identical twins who were brought up in two different ways. However, their
professions were determined by factors beyond their DNAs or their inherited characteristics.
Whereas Bulu settled into a marriage with an already existing Bengali family within the first
decade of the twentieth century to enjoy stability during the period of economic fluctuations of
the British India, Tulu, on the other hand, experienced struggle for existence during the
transformational phase of the Delhi city. According to Mukherjee, “It was the beginning of the
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Calcutta’s slow decent into hell,” while Delhi had started making pockets of wealth (Mukherjee,
2016). The author goes further in extraneous investigation up to the twin studies in Minnesota to
show how same blood does not necessarily make people the same. Many cases have been
observed where both monozygotic twins who were raised in different environments had
completely different personalities and behaviors regarding the choice of the occupation.
Mukherjee rightly notes that ‘social and political attitudes were powerfully correlated’, which
just goes to show that nature took a back seat while nurture ruled supreme (Mukherjee, 2016).
Epigenetics as described by David Allis and other scientists is also an area of research that
Mukherjee considers crucial to establishing how outside forces can change a gene. Through
Allis’s work on histones, it was revealed that genes could be either activated or deactivated by
chemical changes that do not affect the DNA sequence; the potentials that went beyond traits that
people inherited were established (Mukherjee, 2016). Thus, Mukherjee’s depiction of the role of
genetics in the context of one’s life and accomplishments demonstrates that environmental
factors are crucial in determining one’s course and success.
Mukherjee reveals the nature of epigenetics in a very elaborate way that shows that
success is not genetically predetermined by family genes. Taking into consideration the stories of
Tulu and Bulu, the twins born as individuals but raised in drastically different conditions,
Mukherjee underlines the importance of the environmental factors. Epigenetics goes further to
explain how environmental factors can alter the manner in which genes are expressed thus
changing traits and behaviours even without any change in the actual genomic sequence. This
piece of information denies any belief in inevitable success and highlights the roles of
environments, economic opportunities, and choices in achievement. In this case, people can be
enfranchised on how genes interact with environment and how they can cut across different
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barriers to achieve various dreams. Mukherjee’s work helps us understand that, yes, there are
pre-established bounds based on genes, but it is the outside world that writes the brilliant
narrative that allows any individual to have a unique story defining their destiny of success in
career and life.
Work Cited
Mukherjee, Siddhartha. The Science of Identity and Difference. The New Yorker, NewYork,
2016, pp. 1–26, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/02/breakthroughs-in-
epigenetics. Accessed 13 Sept. 2020.
