Inheritance Systems and the Extended Synthesis

Abstract

Current knowledge of the genetic, epigenetic, behavioural and symbolic systems of inheritance requires a revision and extension of the mid-twentieth-century, gene-based, 'Modern Synthesis' version of Darwinian evolutionary theory. We present the case for this by first outlining the history that led to the neo-Darwinian view of evolution. In the second section we describe and compare different types of inheritance, and in the third discuss the implications of a broad view of heredity for various aspects of evolutionary theory. We end with an examination of the philosophical and conceptual ramifications of evolutionary thinking that incorporates multiple inheritance systems.

How does epigenetics influence the course of evolution?

“…There are growing calls for an extended evolutionary synthesis that incorporates all forms of inheritance: DNA, epigenetic and cultural [59,102,103,60] into one overarching view of how evolution proceeds. The field of evolutionary royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rstb Phil.…”

“…We think these are useful definitions. However, some authors take a much broader view of 'epigenetic inheritance' [59][60][61], and include notions like intergenerational cultural transmission. For example, the language spoken at home is typically transmitted from parent to offspring and in this sense is a heritable phenotype despite an absence of any genetic basis.…”

Autopoiesis and evolution: the role of organisms in natural drift

“…This means that any changes that occur in the cell during ontogeny cannot impact DNA nor be passed to future generations. These assumptions, which have remained fundamentally unchallenged during the last decades (but are now under revision; see Jablonka & Lamb, 2020) have greatly contributed to the success of determinism and reductionism in biology. They have reinforced the idea that, since the products of genes construct the phenotype, there is a one-way route between an organism's hereditary endowment and its characteristics, in other words, a linear causal chain from genotype to phenotype.…”

“…There are currently several trends in biological thinking and research in which researchers are seeking new avenues of investigation to overcome the limits, inadequacies, and epistemological difficulties of the received evolutionary theory (e.g. Jablonka & Lamb, 2020;Laland et al, 2015;Nicholson & Dupre´, 2018;Oyama et al, 2001;Pigliucci & Mua¨ller, 2010). As noted by Bich and Etxeberria (2013), the autopoietic theory has significantly influenced theoretical biology (especially with regard to work on the definition of life and the organization of minimal living systems) and cognitive science (Stewart himself subscribed to Varela's ''enactive paradigm'' as well as to Maturana's conception of human language as ''languaging''), but has had no comparable effect on evolutionary biology.…”

Paul Kammerer and epigenetics – a reappraisal of his experiments

“…In any case, modern trends in evolutionary biology reinforce the notions of the founders of the Biologische Versuchsanstalt who maintained that the focus on genetic variation and selection as the main driver of evolution was too narrow (Müller, 2017). Recent findings open a huge array of further experimental and theoretical inquiry into evolutionary biology, in which also Kammerer's (1913a) pioneering emphasis of co-operation and symbiosis finds its place, such as in the "extended evolutionary synthesis" (Laland et al, 2015;Jablonka & Lamb, 2020), the "integrative synthesis" (Noble, 2017), and the "inclusive evolutionary synthesis" (Danchin et al 2019).…”