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I'd be curious to hear from philosophers of biology and other biologically-informed readers about this New Yorker piece. Accurate? Misleading? Links to better or other discussions of epigenetics accessible to non-biologists welcome.
P.Z. Myers has a number of posts on epigenetics: A lengthy introduction is at
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/22/epigenetics/
A less long introduction with a discussion of typical misconceptions is at
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2015/11/18/the-magical-world-of-epigenetics/
Whether he is right, though, I cannot say.
Massimo Pigliucci (a biologist and philosopher) has commented on this many times. He rules "misleading".
https://philosophynow.org/issues/71/The_Evolution_of_Evolutionary_Theory
I read the article and it pretty much squared with what I remember from university biology: DNA methylation and histone modification control gene expression and these signals can be heritable but do not violate the Central Dogma in the way that neo-Lamarckism would allow. Mukherjee is a practicing physician, and the article warns against neo-Lamarckism. So everything seems fair here.
Another perspective, just out in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences:
http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.library.nd.edu/science/article/pii/S1369848616300206
Apologies; here's the working link:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369848616300206
Here's an interesting piece by Nautilus on epigenetics: http://nautil.us/blog/epigenetics-has-become-dangerously-fashionable
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