The Epigenetics Revolution, Part 2 Epigenetics and the chiropractor Steve Zoltai is the collections de-velopment librarian and archivist for CMCC and is a member of the Canadian Chiropractic Historical Association. He was previously the assistant executive director of the Health Sciences information Con-sortium of Toronto. He has worked for several public and private libraries and with the University of Toronto Archives. Steve comes by his interest in things historical honestly – he worked as a field archeologist for the Province of Manitoba. He can be contacted at [email protected]. n the May 2011 issue of Canadian Chiropractor magazine, we looked at the new science of epigenetics and its impact on traditional concepts of heredity, disease and longevity. Epi-genetics has profound implications on three core areas of chiropractic practice: mechano-biology, pain and wellness. In Part 2, we take a closer look at its significance to chiropractic. I MECHANOBIOLOGY Dr. Marion McGregor, director of Year II Education at the Canadian Memorial Chiro-practic College (CMCC), explains that mechanobiology is an emerging field of study that focuses on the way physical forces are transmitted through the tissues to promote changes in metabolic kinetics of cells or tissues, thereby contributing to organism devel-opment, physiology and disease. When considering the mechanisms of action of such stimuli at the cellular level, the science is referred to as mechanotransduction. The role of external and internal forces on cell, tissue and system behaviour is now receiving increasing attention because of a heightened awareness of the simple premise that “all tissues and cells are able to sense their mechanical environment and respond to it.” 1 Much of what chiropractors do relates to the musculoskeletal system and pain, and applying forces to a system is precisely how they do it. “The dominant business of chiropractic,” Dr. McGregor observes, “involves impart-ing a force of some kind into the body. As soon as you do that, you are in the realm of mechanobiology. We absolutely know and understand that if you apply a force to a cell, it sets off a range of intracellular events. Such events may lead to clinical change. When we see clinical results that we can’t explain, you begin to wonder if the mechanism of action can be considered from the perspective of mechanobiology. www.canadianchiropractor.ca Steve Zoltai 26 • CANADiAN CHiROPRACTOR | JUNE 2011
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