Beyond the “Mendel-Fisher controversy”

Radick, Gregory

doi:10.1126/science.aab3846

Cited by 31 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…In comparison with Mendelian inheritance, which entails faithful transmission of discrete packets of information which do not blend or dilute [1], heritable epigenetic data are 'soft', or 'fluid', as they change as a function of time, and in response to physiological processes [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inter-generational consequences for growing Caenorhabditis elegans in liquid

Lev

Bril

Liu

et al. 2019

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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In recent years, studies in Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes have shown that different stresses can generate multigenerational changes. Here, we show that worms that grow in liquid media, and also their plate-grown progeny, are different from worms whose ancestors were grown on plates. It has been suggested that C. elegans might encounter liquid environments in nature, although actual observations in the wild are few and far between. By contrast, in the laboratory, growing worms in liquid is commonplace, and often used as an alternative to growing worms on agar plates, to control the composition of the worms' diet, to starve (and synchronize) worms or to grow large populations for biochemical assays. We found that plate-grown descendants of M9 liquid medium-grown worms were longer than control worms, and the heritable effects were already apparent very early in development. We tested for the involvement of different known epigenetic inheritance mechanisms, but could not find a single mutant in which these inter-generational effects are cancelled. While we found that growing in liquid always leads to inter-generational changes in the worms’ size, trans-generational effects were found to be variable, and in some cases, the effects were gone after one to two generations. These results demonstrate that standard cultivation conditions in early life can dramatically change the worms' physiology in adulthood, and can also affect the next generations. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine’.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inter-generational consequences for growing Caenorhabditis elegans in liquid

Lev

Bril

Liu

et al. 2019

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…In failing to compensate for this problem, the biology curriculum forces students to make sense of socially caused gender disparities with the only other explanation it offers to them, which is genetics. Until the biology curriculum introduces students to the idea that most human traits are poorly explained by Mendelian models of inheritance and are instead well explained by multifactorial models that include genetic, social–environmental, and gene–environment interactions (Dougherty, ; Jamieson & Radick, , ; Radick, , ; Stern & Kampourakis, ), it will be difficult to help students understand why the genetic causes of sex are not actually in conflict with the social causes of gender.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered genetics: How reading about the genetic basis of sex differences in biology textbooks could affect beliefs associated with science gender disparities

et al. 2019

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The belief that men and women differ in science ability because of genetics contributes to gender disparities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in complex ways. In this field experiment, we explored how the content of the genetics curriculum affected beliefs about science ability through its impact on a social-cognitive bias known as neurogenetic essentialism. Students (n = 460, 8th-10th grade) were randomized to read a genetics text that (a) explained plant sex differences, (b) explained human sex differences, or (c) refuted neurogenetic essentialism. After reading, students in the two genetics of sex conditions had significantly greater belief in neurogenetic essentialism and the innate basis of science ability compared with students who read the text that refuted neurogenetic essentialism. Structural equation modeling (SEM) of the experimental data demonstrated that the effect of the readings on the belief that science ability is innate was mediated by neurogenetic essentialism and this indirect effect was significant for girls but not boys. In turn, the belief that science ability is innate predicted lower future interest in STEM for girls, but not for boys. These findings suggest that learning about human genetic difference is not a socially neutral endeavor. Implications for mitigating gender disparities in STEM are discussed.

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“…Mendel's insights have been thoroughly tested and became the solid basis of the new discipline of genetics (Weldon 1902;Bateson 1902). Several reviews and commentaries have been published related to Mendel's achievements starting from the controversy over his data (Fairbanks and Rytting 2001;Hartl and Orel 1992;Daniel et al 2007;Franklin et al 2008;Radick 2015), to references to his personality and work (Zirkle 1951;Gasking 1959;Orel 1984Orel , 1996Weiling 1991;Sandler 2000;Ellis et al 2011;Reid and Ross 2011;Klein and Klein 2013;Gliboff 2013). Although biology, genetics and mainly genomics have been revolutionized in recent years, modern genetics will forever rely on principles of heredity founded on pea using seven single gene characters.…”

Section: Reflection On Mendel's Work On Peamentioning

confidence: 99%

From Mendel’s discovery on pea to today’s plant genetics and breeding

et al. 2016

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This work discusses several selected topics of plant genetics and breeding in relation to the 150th anniversary of the seminal work of Gregor Johann Mendel. In 2015, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the presentation of the seminal work of Gregor Johann Mendel. While Darwin's theory of evolution was based on differential survival and differential reproductive success, Mendel's theory of heredity relies on equality and stability throughout all stages of the life cycle. Darwin's concepts were continuous variation and "soft" heredity; Mendel espoused discontinuous variation and "hard" heredity. Thus, the combination of Mendelian genetics with Darwin's theory of natural selection was the process that resulted in the modern synthesis of evolutionary biology. Although biology, genetics, and genomics have been revolutionized in recent years, modern genetics will forever rely on simple principles founded on pea breeding using seven single gene characters. Purposeful use of mutants to study gene function is one of the essential tools of modern genetics. Today, over 100 plant species genomes have been sequenced. Mapping populations and their use in segregation of molecular markers and marker-trait association to map and isolate genes, were developed on the basis of Mendel's work. Genome-wide or genomic selection is a recent approach for the development of improved breeding lines. The analysis of complex traits has been enhanced by high-throughput phenotyping and developments in statistical and modeling methods for the analysis of phenotypic data. Introgression of novel alleles from landraces and wild relatives widens genetic diversity and improves traits; transgenic methodologies allow for the introduction of novel genes from diverse sources, and gene editing approaches offer possibilities to manipulate gene in a precise manner.

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Beyond the “Mendel-Fisher controversy”

Abstract: Worries about fraudulent data should give way to broader critiques of Mendel's legacy

Cited by 31 publications

References 7 publications

Inter-generational consequences for growing Caenorhabditis elegans in liquid

Inter-generational consequences for growing Caenorhabditis elegans in liquid

Gendered genetics: How reading about the genetic basis of sex differences in biology textbooks could affect beliefs associated with science gender disparities

From Mendel’s discovery on pea to today’s plant genetics and breeding

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