Epigenetics: a challenge for genetics, evolution, and development?
In this paper, it is argued that differences in how one relates the genome to its surrounding contexts leads to diverse interpretations of the term epigenetics. Three different approaches are considered, ranging from gene-centrism, over gene-regulation, to dynamic systems approaches. Although epigenetics receives its widest interpretation in a systems approach, a paradigmatic shift has taken place in biology from the abandonment of a gene-centric position on to the present. The epistemological and ontological consequences of this shift are made explicit.
Van de Vijver
Gertrudis
G
Department of Philosophy and Moral Science, Ghent University, Blandijnberg 2, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. gertrudis.vandevijver@rug.ac.be
Van Speybroeck
Linda
L
De Waele
Dani
D
D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D005823:Genetics; D006801:Humans; D009626:Terminology as Topic