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  1. Justin Fisher's avatar

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  2. Mark's avatar

    Everything you say is true, but what is the alternative? I don’t think people are advocating a return to in-class…

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Epigenetics and the return of Lamarck?

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.

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6 responses to “Epigenetics and the return of Lamarck?”

  1. Sebastian Lutz

    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.

  2. DavidOttlinger

    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

  3. 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.

  4. 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

  5. Apologies; here's the working link:

    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369848616300206

  6. PoorGradStudent

    Here's an interesting piece by Nautilus on epigenetics: http://nautil.us/blog/epigenetics-has-become-dangerously-fashionable

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