Epigenetics: The Ultimate Mystery of Inheritance in Science and Inquiry

Jun 23, 2016 Charlene rated it really liked it

Shelves: evolution, biology

Absolutely fantastic introduction to epigenetics, albeit much shorter than most books. He introduces all the usual studies but I didn't feel bored at having heard all of it before. Francis did a really nice job of explaining various techniques for the epigenetic modification of genes-- those during transcription (e.g. methyl and acetyl groups) as well as translation (e.g. awesome microRNAs, which I love like crazy).

Francis also killed it when explaining imprinting. There exist differences betwee Absolutely fantastic introduction to epigenetics, albeit much shorter than most books. He introduces all the usual studies but I didn't feel bored at having heard all of it before. Francis did a really nice job of explaining various techniques for the epigenetic modification of genes-- those during transcription (e.g. methyl and acetyl groups) as well as translation (e.g. awesome microRNAs, which I love like crazy).

Francis also killed it when explaining imprinting. There exist differences between maternal and paternal stamps on the same region of a gene, which bring about 2 completely different outcomes. For example, depending on whether the male or female stamps the gene on chromosome 15, the offspring will have either Turner's syndrome or Prader-Will syndrome. But the best part about imprinting was that it was found that neither the male or female stamp the actual gene. The methylation imprinting site is not on the gene or even the control panel. It's on a region far away, called the imprint control region (ICR). These modifications are passed down transgenerationally. Some researchers argue that imprinting cannot be considered epigenetic modification. Francis' response to that is basically, "Fine, call it what you like. It is still a case of transgenerational inheritance not passed down purely by genes. Thus, we must update our understanding of how genes work and their place in evolution.

Also enjoyable was the way Francis ended the book. He stayed away from religion until the end. However, he seemed to need to say one thing before ending his book. The argument went sort of like this:

If you want to suggest God cured cancer, because it went into spontaneous remission, that if fine, but you will need a much better argument than, 'Doctors cannot explain it; so therefore God did it." There are many things we have not understood throughout history that we initially attributed to God and later came to understand when more information was available. Once understood, there was no longer a need for supernatural explanations to describe what seemed mysterious.

Currently, as we understand more about epigenetics, we understand more about how oncogenes, cancer genes, can turn back into normal genes, even in later cancers. It doesn't happen often, but if the conditions are right, it can and does happen. The process by which this occurs is being mapped. Once we understand this, what will do to the argument, "Doctors cannot explain it; so God must have done it"?

Great book! ...more

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Mar 23, 2012 Libyrinths rated it liked it

Nice overview of what's known about an emerging subfield in genetics, with interesting examples, and aimed toward the general reader. Some parts are more interesting than others. Science types may want a bit more specificity; non-science types may want a little less. Francis' underlying (or overarching) perspective is that not all character traits (phenotypic expression) are due to the nuclear genes, and that other intracellular processes can and do contribute.

His first example of this has to do ...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Tippy marked it as abandoned

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