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Review
. 2017 Oct 6;7(5):20160135.
doi: 10.1098/rsfs.2016.0135. Epub 2017 Aug 18.

The evolutionary implications of epigenetic inheritance

Eva Jablonka  1
Affiliations
Review

The evolutionary implications of epigenetic inheritance

Eva Jablonka. Interface Focus. .

Abstract

The Modern Evolutionary Synthesis (MS) forged in the mid-twentieth century was built on a notion of heredity that excluded soft inheritance, the inheritance of the effects of developmental modifications. However, the discovery of molecular mechanisms that generate random and developmentally induced epigenetic variations is leading to a broadening of the notion of biological heredity that has consequences for ideas about evolution. After presenting some old challenges to the MS that were raised, among others, by Karl Popper, I discuss recent research on epigenetic inheritance, which provides experimental and theoretical support for these challenges. There is now good evidence that epigenetic inheritance is ubiquitous and is involved in adaptive evolution and macroevolution. I argue that the many evolutionary consequences of epigenetic inheritance open up new research areas and require the extension of the evolutionary synthesis beyond the current neo-Darwinian model.

Keywords: Karl Popper; Modern Synthesis; adaptive evolution; developmental selection; epigenetic inheritance; macroevolution.

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Conflict of interest statement

I declare I have no competing interests.

References

    1. Niemann H-G. 2014. Karl Popper and the two new secrets of life. Tubingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck.
    1. Mayr E, Provine WB (eds). 1980. The evolutionary synthesis: perspectives on the unification of biology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    1. Gissis SB, Jablonka E (eds). 2011. The transformation of Lamarckism: from subtle fluids to molecular biology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
    1. Lamb MJ. 2011. Attitudes to soft inheritance in Great Britain, 1930s–1970s. In The transformation of Lamarckism: from subtle fluids to molecular biology (eds Gissis SB, Jablonka E), pp. 109–120. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
    1. Pigliuci M, Müller GB (eds). 2010. Evolution, the extended synthesis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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