Nature-via-nurture and unravelling causality in evolutionary genetics

Kathleen E Lynch; Darrell J Kemp

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2013.10.005

Nature-via-nurture and unravelling causality in evolutionary genetics

Trends Ecol Evol. 2014 Jan;29(1):2-4. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2013.10.005. Epub 2013 Nov 7.

Authors

Kathleen E Lynch¹, Darrell J Kemp²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
² Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: darrell.kemp@mq.edu.au.

PMID: 24211246
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2013.10.005

Abstract

Quantitative geneticists traditionally attribute phenotypic variation to genetic or environmental sources. New findings with near-clonal mice raised in a single enriched environment demonstrated significant developmental and behavioural divergence. This suggests intriguing possibilities for how (epi)genomes and environments might interact to drive phenotypic individuality, thus shaping evolutionary pathways.

Keywords: covariance; epigenetics; genetic variance.

Publication types

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MeSH terms

Animals
Behavior, Animal*
Female
Hippocampus / embryology*
Individuality*
Male
Neurogenesis*
Neuronal Plasticity / genetics*