Our health is guided not only by our genetic blueprint but also by our lifestyle choices and environmental exposures. The study of epigenetics involves looking at what particular markers regulate gene expression.

Just because someone may have a genetic predisposition to a certain illness, for example, doesn’t mean they will necessarily get sick. The expression of certain genes can be turned up or down via an assortment of factors, and scientists have known for a number of years that exercise in particular can trigger a variety of beneficial epigenetic changes in the human body.

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One fascinating study back in 2014 homed in on the way exercise affects gene expression by tasking a small cohort of volunteers to perform a one-legged cycling task for three months. At the end of the study period the researchers saw changes in about 4,000 genes when studying skeletal muscle from the exercised leg compared to the untrained leg.

But a new study from researchers at Washington State University explored the epigenetics of exercise in a novel way, looking at gene expression differences in identical twins.

Read more: New Atlas