Beyond DNA: integrating inclusive inheritance into an extended theory of evolution

By Etienne G. J. Danchin, Anne Charmantier, F. Champagne, Alex Mesoudi, B. Pujol, S. Blanchet. Nature reviews genetics, 2011

713 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Many biologists are calling for an 'extended evolutionary synthesis' that would 'modernize the modern synthesis' of evolution. Biological information is typically considered as being transmitted across generations by the DNA sequence alone, but accumulating evidence indicates that both genetic and non-genetic inheritance, and the interactions between them, have important effects on evolutionary outcomes. We review the evidence for such effects of epigenetic, ecological and cultural inheritance and parental effects, and outline methods that quantify the relative contributions of genetic and non-genetic heritability to the transmission of phenotypic variation across generations. These issues have implications for diverse areas, from the question of missing heritability in human complex-trait genetics to the basis of major evolutionary transitions.

Subfields: Cultural Studies, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3fe5ada425b811bcca641bb2a0efeed0b87e2839

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In Cultural Studies

In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

In Sociology and Political Science

Citations in the corpus

Cultural Evolution: A Review of Theory, Findings and Controversies (2015, background): “…of a second inheritance system—and potentially a third, if one also includes transgenerational epigenetic inheritance—means that standard explanations for phenotypic variation in terms purely of the natural selection of genetically-inherited variation will not be sufficient (Danchin et al. 2011).”
Epigenetically facilitated mutational assimilation: epigenetics as a hub within the inclusive evolutionary synthesis (2018, background): “, 2010; Odling-Smee, 2010; Fisher & Ridley, 2013), as well as parental effects (Francis et al., 1999; Jablonka & Raz, 2009; Bonduriansky et al., 2011; Danchin et al., 2011; Daxinger & Whitelaw, 2012; reviews in Mameli, 2004; Morgan et al., 1999; Richards, 2006; Sharma, 2015; Szyf, 2015).”
Ecology in an anthropogenic biosphere (2015, background): “…cultural inheritance, which is defined as the transmission of information across generations through social learning (i.e., ‘‘learning from others’’; Danchin et al. 2011), human capacity for social learning and accumulating cultural inheritance across generations is unrivaled by any other…”