Epigenetics Two

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GENRE ANALYSIS
JASMINE CABALLERO

University of Texas at El Paso

Mr. Stone
RWS 1302

Introduction
How is it that two identical twins with the exact same DNA and the same environment
can be very different? (Coutney Griffin 2012) Cortney Griffin elaborated on how her journey of
having twins lead her to a deeper understanding of what epigenetics truly is. This talk, although
vastly viewed in biochemistry classes, including at the University of Texas of El Paso, differs
from the scholarly article Epigenetics and human disease: translating basic biology into clinical
applications by David Rodenhiser and Mellissa Mann. Their most prominent similarities and
differences can be separated into audience and purpose, rhetorical appeals, and structure and
delivery.
Summary of Speech
Courtney Griffin began her speech by saying that nine years ago, she was told that she
was going to have twins. This got her interested in how much of peoples mental health and
physical health has to do with nature and nurture. She took the stage to describe her journey at
TEDX OU, is an independently Organized TED event at the University of Oklahoma. She had
been trained as a geneticist. She was not expecting twins so she joked, what would happen if she
put one kid in daycare and one kid in a drawer. This got her interested in epigenetics. Even
though twins could have identical DNA and grow up relatively the same they are radically
different people, to the point that there are health differences between the children. When DNA
gets wrapped to fit into the nucleolus, some parts are able to be read and other parts of the DNA
are not. Epi means on top of; genetics is referring to the genes. This is what makes different cells
look and act different; much of this happens pre-natal. When the cell was dividing is when
epigenetic marks are added. This can also be affected by our environment. Epigenetic marks can
be changed positively or negatively depending on the particular person. This being stated also

leads to the decisions that are made can be transmitted through the genome on to other
generations. (Griffin 2012)
Summary of Article
The article talks about epigenetics and the study of changes in expression due to what
people inherit from past generations. This occurs even though the gene itself has not changed.
Epigenetics works because when the DNA is being bound the top layer is what controls the
expression of certain genes. Methylation has been linked to different diseases such as: genetic,
cancer, aging, autoimmune and so many more. The article discusses a new clinical way to test for
epigenetic markers along with errors. There are also new discoveries in targeted treatment. There
are Clinical consequences of epigenetic error. New technology has also arisen for assisted
reproduction. Along with this there are new epigenetic therapies for certain types of cancers. The
article elaborates more on how aging and immunity related disorders can be seen ahead of time
and altered to prevent certain disorders. Pediatric syndromes on the other end of the spectrum
will soon be able to be caught and altered before the child is even born. There is so much more of
epigenetics that has yet to be understood.
Audience and Purpose
They both have the same general purpose to educate their audience of the importance of
continuing the exploration of epigenetics. The TED talk, the video, focuses more on using
simplistic yet college level terminology to educate any major; from someone who is an english
major to biology majors. Mrs. Griffin does this in the video by relating to every person;
epigenetics affects their life. The audience may not know very much about the current topic
depending on their major and their course studies; because of this the video is very informal,

giving mostly a basic overview of what epigenetics really is by making their points in
PowerPoint format to be easily understood. The PowerPoint is kept very simple not using
difficult terminology. Mrs. Griffin also speaks more slowly so everything could be thoroughly
understood. She also relates things to the audience for example, using her twins and saying how
there are many differences. The video is eighteen minutes long. This is enough to give a concise
understanding of what epigenetics is. The article, on the other hand, is a page long and is geared
towards people in the medical field. This audience has a greater understanding of the topics due
to other articles they have researched or studies they have conducted. This can be seen in the
article because of the use of the wording like 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (Rodenhiser and Mann).
The article is much more formal than the video. You can see this from the terminology they use
about methylation and histones compared to the video that broke it down piece by piece. They
have a much more specialized vocabulary including diseases that are not common and medical
terminology such as BRCA1 hypermethylation is primarily associated with 10%20% of
sporadic breast and ovarian cancers (Rodenhiser and Mann). The article reinforces the fact
that epigenetics holds an enormous amount of clinical uses using these statistics and percentages.
The video audience is focused on a younger age group compared to the article that focuses on a
more educated crowd.
Rhetorical Appeals: Ethos
When it comes to how they engage their audiences each group uses rhetorical ideals
differently to ensure they get their point across. Each representor holds a lot of ethos. Courtney
Griffin has a Ph.D. and works in the Department of Cell Biology at the University of Oklahoma;
she works to understand genes related to blood vessels, which she references at the beginning of
the video. (OMRF, 2011) David Rodenhiser and Mellissa Mann also hold a variety of impressive

titles From the EpiGenWestern Research Group at the Children's Health Research Institute
(Rodenhiser, Mann) and the Departments of Biochemistry (Rodenhiser, Mann), Pediatrics
(Rodenhiser), Oncology (Rodenhiser), and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Mann), University of
Western Ontario, and the London Regional Cancer Program, London Health Sciences Centre
(Rodenhiser), London, Ont. (Rodenhiser and Mann)
Pathos
Neither genre uses very much pathos. The video uses a bit of humor, asking the question
of what would happen if she left one of her twins in a desk drawer, but other than that, both
genres stick to definitions and trying to give a better understanding through logos. The article
also uses a bit of pathos showing all the people who have died because epigenetics has not been
implemented sufficiently. They make an argument that infants which are passing away could
have a chance to survive using epigenetics. Together, this constellation of clinical pediatric
syndromes is associated with alterations in genes and chromosomal regions necessary for proper
neurologic and physical development. (Rodenhiser and Mann)
Logos
The video uses a lot of logos by giving definitions and a basic background of what
epigenetics is. The video also shows pictures of DNA and step by step formation of a gene. It
also demonstrates through images of mice how epigenetics can be used to find methylated areas
affecting even rats and turn them off so that the rat could be normal. The article gives a deeper
understanding of the applications that epigenetics holds for the future of medicine through
statistics numbers and terminology, and they use facts and data with examples to give the reader
supporting evidence. For example, p16ink4A promoter hypermethylation occurs in varying

degrees (9%49%) in as many as 15 cancer types (Rodenhiser and Mann). They both are very
directed towards definitions and giving their audience a better understanding of how epigenetics
influences their lives. The article gives more specific examples of how it would be logical to
include epigenetics into everyday life.
Structure and Delivery
The video is a form of oral and iconography. It is orally because it is an orator speaking
to a classroom of students in the auditorium. It is an iconography because it is videotaped and
posted on YouTube. The article falls under the category of typography. This video uses its genre
very effectively when it comes to definitions; it has the ability to visually demonstrate the point
they are trying to get across demonstrated in the video when she is discussing DNA and showing
the formation of DNA. This allows them to reach a different group of learners, auditory and
visual learners, whereas an article is limited to people who enjoy reading and background
knowledge; this cut off a large group of people who understand better different ways. They do try
to make an effort visually by adding tables and pictures of methylated DNA. The video gives
more of an ability to use different fonts and texts to add attention, whereas the article follows
scientific formatting. But the video is not excellent, there are many limitations to lecturing to an
auditorium. Because there are only a limited amounts of people listening to the speech, they are
the few who experienced this speaker first hand. Also because of the limited time frame that ted
talks allow, she was only allotted a certain amount of time to discuss an entire branch of genetics.
The article had much more freedom with topic choice and length. The writers were able to
discuss anything they wished and make the paper as long as they wished given a sufficient
amount of data. Each genre delivers their message, although through two different media, with
passion. The video is able to organize ideas into a PowerPoint. The article is organized thoughts

by making a claim in the introductory paragraph and following it with supporting paragraphs.
They both demonstrate that although much has been learned there is so much more that could be
learned; this leaves the audience intrigued of what else will arise on this topic.
Conclusion
The video was more effective than the article. The video was able to reach a much larger
audience and a variety of people as well. Anyone who wished to find the video could easily
access it through different sites, YouTube, TedXou, ted talks, and other sites. The article had a
much smaller discourse community, because of the specialized language, and was much more
difficult to find. Through both the video and the article, the audience is able to realize the
importance of epigenetics. Both genres target a different audience. The video targets young
students to inform them. The article targets medical staff to persuade them to put more emphasis
on epigenetics. Both genres succeed with transferring their message in a clear and direct manner
really emphasizing their ethos and logos. The video was structured in a PowerPoint format while
the article used claim and evidence format. Both forms are very successful in reaching the goal
that was desired.

References:
Rodenhiser and Mann. By examining both healthy and diseased tissues,
specific genomic regions will be identified that are involved in development,. (n.d.).
CMAJ -- Rodenhiser and Mann 174 (3): 341. Retrieved September 09, 2016, from
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content-nw/full/174/3/341

By generating mice with vascular. (2011). Home. Retrieved September 09,

2016, from https://omrf.org/research-faculty/scientists/griffin-courtney/

"Epigenetics makes you unique: Courtney Griffin @ TEDxOU" Video at

TEDxTalks. (2012, February 24). Retrieved September 09, 2016, from
http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxOU-Courtney-Griffin-Epigene