Can environmental factors acting on organisms lead to inherited Essay

Can environmental factors acting on organisms lead to inherited changes in phenotype in descendant - Essay Example Any ecosystem is composed of Abiotic and Biotic components. The Abiotic components include the atmosphere, where air acts as a medium, lithosphere and hydrosphere. The nature of the response of the organisms to these Abiotic factors depends on the essential factors and limiting factors. The response is best explained rather by ecological theories like Liebig-Blackman Law of Limiting factors and Shelford's Law of Tolerance. The Biotic components are composed of the biotic community each with an ecological niche influenced by community evolution, succession, growth, regulation and interactions. The ecological genetics is thus, a product of interactions of organisms with these Abiotic and biotic factors with the elements of adaptation, natural selection and speciation largely influenced by the ecological dynamics of energy flow and biogeochemical cycles. Thus, inherited changes in a phenotype depends on gravity of these interactions and the potential of these factors to cause a genomic change or a mutation. It is worthy to mention the role of Ecological pollution as a potential and vital factor in this process of genomic change today. Ecological pollution is one of the vital factors causing genomic changes or mutation, which is being carried through the generations. Thus, these pollutants act as potential mutagens. ... More than 65,000 chemicals are currently in use in U.K with which human beings come into constant contact. Many of these chemicals are harmful and pose a serious health hazard. Numerous chemicals have been designated as hazardous to biological system and these chemicals pose an occupational health hazard to workers who are constantly in contact with them. These chemicals are often toxic, mutagenic/carcinogenic, causing serious diseases like Cancer and disabilities of various kinds. Even children born to women working in nickel refinery have been found to have Genital malformations. Industrial units that release toxic gases like Sulphur di oxide, Nitrogenous compounds and Mercurial derivatives contribute to air pollution to a great extent. The automobile exhaust fumes rich in carbon monoxide harms the oxygen binding mechanism in human blood. Welding is another industrial important contributor in which metal or other thermoplastic materials are joined together by the application of heat or pressure. This process produces gases like acetylene, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, ozone, phosgene and tungsten. (Palmer .T, 2006) The gas and chemical pollutants primarily enter the human system by inhalation route namely Respiration. The deposition of these inhaled particles in the lungs is influenced by its physical and chemical properties and a variety of host factors. In the lungs, these particles produce a variety of reactions including Asthma and Cancer depending on the concentration, duration of the exposure of the particles, and degree of exposure. Even babies in the womb have been found to be susceptible than their mothers to DNA damage from air pollution, despite the added protection of the