When does that seasonal suntan become a risk for melanoma? At what point could those extra pounds trigger diabetes? Could severe head injuries tip one over into Alzheimer’s disease? In the larger scheme of things, the risk factors include genetics, lifestyle and age, with the answers often only coming after the unfortunate diagnoses.

 However, a record of the physical slights, injuries, bad choices we make and abuses we experience exists as stress at a cellular level. UC Santa Barbara researchers have found a way to map this cellular “stress memory landscape,” which interprets the stresses that cells have already undergone and predicts the cells’ future reaction to stressors.