The China Study by Thomas Campbell

(^234) THE CHINA STUDY
that we could turn the bad genes on and off simply by adjusting animal
protein intake.
Furthermore, our China research findings showed that people of
roughly the same ethnic background have hugely varying disease rates.
These are people said to have similar genes, and yet they get differ-
ent diseases depending on their environment. Dozens of studies have
documented that as people migrate, they assume the disease risk of
the country to which they move. They do not change their genes, and
yet they fall prey to diseases and illnesses at rates that are rare in their
homeland population.
Furthermore, we have seen disease rates change over time so drasti-
cally that it is biologically impossible to put the blame on genes. In
twenty-five years, the percentage of our population that is obese has
doubled, from 15% to 30%. In addition, diabetes, heart disease and
many other diseases of affluence were rare until recent history, and our
genetic code simply could not have changed significantly in the past 25,
100 or even 500 years.
So while we can say that genes are crucial to every biological process,
we have some very convincing evidence that gene expression is far more
important, and gene expression is controlled by environment, especially
nutrition.
A further folly of this genetic research is assuming that understanding
our genes is Simple. It is not. Recently, for example, researchers studied
genetic regulation of weight in a tiny worm species.^12 The scientists
went through 16,757 genes, turning each one off, and observed the ef-
fect on weight. They discovered 417 genes that affect weight. How these
hundreds of genes interact over the long term with each other and their
ever-changing environment to alter weight gain or loss is an incredibly
complex mystery. Goethe once said, "We know accurately only when
we know little; with knowledge doubt increases." 13
Expression of our genetic code represents a universe of biochemical
interactions of almost infinite complexity. This biochemical "universe"
interacts with many different systems, including nutrition, which it-
self represents whole systems of complex biochemistry. With genetic
research, I suspect we are embarking on a massive quest to shortcut
nature only to end up worse off than when we started.
Does all this mean I think that genes don't matter? Of course not. If
you take two Americans living in the same environment and feed them
exactly the same meaty food every day for their entire lives, I would not
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