Epigenetic variations in heredity and evolution.
The biological and medical importance of epigenetics is nowtaken for granted, but the significance of one aspect of it—epigenetic inheritance—is less widely recognized. New datasuggest that not only is it ubiquitous, but both the generationand the transmission of epigenetic variations may be affectedby developmental conditions. Population studies, formalmodels, and research on genomic and ecological stressesall suggest that epigenetic inheritance is important in bothmicro-and macroevolutionary change.
Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. jablonka@post.tau.ac.il
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D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D057890:Epigenomics / Q000379:methods*; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D040941:Heredity / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011153:Population