That's what was observed... It was noticed that social stress affects the expression of
almost 1,000 genes (in rhesus monkeys
) , most of which are related to the immune system and the gene activity in NK and helper T cells changed consequently. Changes in the social ranking makes that these effects can be reversed.
These effects are not easy to explain but normally attributed to "Epigenetics". Epigenetic modifications regulate this dynamic process of DNA to protein. Epigenetics, which means “outside conventional genetics”, focuses on the regulation of “turning on or off” genes without changing the DNA sequence, but rather the accessibility of regulatory transcription factors to the gene. There are three main types of epigenetic modifications: DNA methylation, histone modifications, and various RNA-mediated processes. Epigenetic modifications may be cell-type-specific.
For eg: studies have clearly shown that childhood trauma has been associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The changes in several hotspot genes have been identified now but it's beyond the scope of a simple post.
PS: FYI.... Copied from one of my earlier posts.
There are three books by Dr. Nessa Carey. She has a virology PhD from the University of Edinburgh and is a former Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology at Imperial College, London. She's an Epigenetics researcher. Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence.
These are
The Epigenetics Revolution -
How Modern Biology Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance
Junk DNA: A Journey Through the Dark Matter of the Genome
Hacking the Code of Life: How gene editing will rewrite our futures
These books are written for the non medical audience and are quite interesting and readable.