A critical view on transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in humans.
Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30061690.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-05445-5 and PMC identifier 6065375.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance refers to the transmission of epigenetic information through the germline. While it has been observed in plants, nematodes and fruit flies, its occurrence in mammals-and humans in particular-is the matter of controversial debate, mostly because the study of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance is confounded by genetic, ecological and cultural inheritance. In this comment, I discuss the phenomenon of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance and the difficulty of providing conclusive proof for it in experimental and observational studies.
Medical subject headings
- DNA Methylation
- Epigenesis, Genetic
- Inheritance Patterns