EPIGENETICS

Why Your DNA Isn't Your Destiny

By John Cloud Wednesday, Jan. 06, 201

Three generations: Dr. Lars Olov Bygren, with son Magnus and grandson Ludvig in Stockholm

Lars Tunbjork / VU

The remote, snow-swept expanses of northern Sweden are an unlikely place to begin a story about cutting-edge genetic science. The kingdom's northernmost county, Norrbotten, is nearly free of human life; an average of just six people live in each square mile. And yet this tiny population can reveal a lot about how genes work in our everyday lives./.../