Can Our Genes Really Be Altered by Epigenetics?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of epigenetics and its implications for understanding genetic behavior and inheritance. Participants explore the distinction between heritable traits and learned behaviors, particularly in the context of animal studies.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant references a program on epigenetics, suggesting that it has significant implications for understanding genetics and spacetime experience.
  • Another participant defines epigenetics as heritable information not encoded in the genome, questioning whether observed behaviors in studies are due to epigenetic effects or nurturing influences.
  • A participant raises the issue of whether licking behavior in rats is heritable or learned, proposing the need for cross-fostering studies to clarify this distinction.
  • One participant mentions that cross-fostering studies indicate that offspring tend to adopt behaviors of their biological mothers, while also noting the potential influence of maternal hormones during nurturing behaviors, complicating the interpretation of results.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the interpretation of studies related to epigenetics and nurturing, indicating that there is no consensus on whether certain behaviors are heritable or learned.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the complexity of distinguishing between genetic and environmental influences on behavior, with references to specific studies and the need for further research to clarify these relationships.

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Just watched an amazing programme:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/ghostgenes.shtml

all the more amazing as I had conversed about this process(unknown to me at the time, epigenetics) some years ago on another forum.

The respected scientists who are just starting to tease info from the genome project are really into domains that are..pretty substantial in our understanding of spacetime experience and our genes, quite amazing.

The programme needs to be watched at least twice, as the consequences are far reaching.
 
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Thanks for the link. For those who don't know, epigenetics means 'outside of the genes': heritable information that is not encoded into the nucleotide sequence of the genome, such as X-chromosome inactivation and gene silencing.

With some of the studies that are being done I doubt whether they are viewing effects of epigenetics, or effects of nurturing. For example: rats who are licked a lot by their mother as an infant are lickers themselves, whereas rats that are not licked a lot (due to stress of the mother) won't be lickers themselves. Conclusion: licking is heritable.. or is it learned behaviour?
 
Monique said:
With some of the studies that are being done I doubt whether they are viewing effects of epigenetics, or effects of nurturing. For example: rats who are licked a lot by their mother as an infant are lickers themselves, whereas rats that are not licked a lot (due to stress of the mother) won't be lickers themselves. Conclusion: licking is heritable.. or is it learned behaviour?
Have they done cross-fostering studies yet? Those are the more definitive studies for distinguishing between learned and heritable behaviors. On the other hand, that still wouldn't address the effects of intrauterine environment; they would need to transfer embryos into surrogate mothers to do that.
 
Yes, it was a cross-fostering study. I guess the clue is that no matter what the foster mother does, the litter is more likely to take on the behaviour of the biological mother. But on the other hand it was said that the action of the mother imprints the behaviour of the litter by released hormones during the licking, so it is a bit fuzzy.
 

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