Epigenetics: Why Inheritance Is Weirder Than We Thought

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Want to learn more about the topic in this week’s video? Here are some keywords/phrases to get your googling started:
epigenetics: genetic control by factors other than an individual’s DNA sequence
epigenetic inheritance: transmittance of information from one generation of an organism to the next that affects the traits of offspring without altering the DNA sequence
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
Script Editor: Emily Elert (@eelert)
Video Illustrator: Omkar Bhagat (@TheCuriousEnggr)
Video Director: Emily Elert (@eelert)
With Contributions From: Alex Reich (@alexhreich), Henry Reich (@minutephysics), Peter Reich and Ever Salazar (@eversalazar)
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder:
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References:
Dias B.G., Ressler, K.J. (2014) Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations. Nature Neuroscience 17:89-96.
Holliday, R. (2006). Epigenetics: a historical overview. Epigenetics 1: 76–80.
Jones P.A., Takai D. (2001) The role of DNA methylation in mammalian epigenetics. Science 293: 1068–1070.
Jones S.V., Choi D.C., Davis M., Ressler K.J. (2008) Learning-dependent structural plasticity in the adult olfactory pathway. Journal of Neuroscience 28: 13106–13111.
Kaati G., Bygren L.D., Edvinsson S. (2002) Cardiovascular and diabetes mortality determined by nutrition during parents’ and grandparents’ slow growth period. European Journal of Human Genetics 10: 682 – 688.
Morgan H.D., Sutherland H.G., Martin D.I., Whitelaw E. (1999) Epigenetic inheritance at the agouti locus in the mouse. Nature Genetics 23(3): 314-318.
Pembrey, M. (2002). Time to take epigenetic inheritance seriously. European Journal of Human Genetics 10: 669 – 671.