Editing Evolution (section)

=== Epigenetics ===
{{further|Epigenetics}}

Some heritable changes cannot be explained by changes to the sequence of [[nucleotide]]s in the DNA. These phenomena are classed as epigenetic inheritance systems.<ref name="Jablonka-2009">{{cite journal |last1=Jablonka |first1=Eva |last2=Raz |first2=Gal |date=June 2009 |title=Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance: Prevalence, Mechanisms, and Implications for the Study of Heredity and Evolution |journal=The Quarterly Review of Biology |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=131–176 |doi=10.1086/598822 |issn=0033-5770 |pmid=19606595 |url=http://compgen.unc.edu/wiki/images/d/df/JablonkaQtrRevBio2009.pdf |citeseerx=10.1.1.617.6333 |s2cid=7233550 |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=15 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715111243/http://compgen.unc.edu/wiki/images/d/df/JablonkaQtrRevBio2009.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> [[DNA methylation]] marking [[chromatin]], self-sustaining metabolic loops, gene silencing by [[RNA interference]] and the three-dimensional [[Protein structure|conformation]] of [[protein]]s (such as [[prion]]s) are areas where epigenetic inheritance systems have been discovered at the organismic level.<ref name="Bossdorf-2010">{{cite journal |last1=Bossdorf |first1=Oliver |last2=Arcuri |first2=Davide |last3=Richards |first3=Christina L. |last4=Pigliucci |first4=Massimo |s2cid=15763479 |author-link4=Massimo Pigliucci |date=May 2010 |title=Experimental alteration of DNA methylation affects the phenotypic plasticity of ecologically relevant traits in ''Arabidopsis thaliana'' |journal=Evolutionary Ecology |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=541–553 |doi=10.1007/s10682-010-9372-7 |bibcode=2010EvEco..24..541B |issn=0269-7653 |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/318722/files/10682_2010_Article_9372.pdf |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=5 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605101316/http://doc.rero.ch/record/318722/files/10682_2010_Article_9372.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Developmental biologists suggest that complex interactions in [[genetic networks]] and communication among cells can lead to heritable variations that may underlay some of the mechanics in [[developmental plasticity]] and [[Canalisation (genetics)|canalisation]].<ref name="Jablonka-2002">{{cite journal |last1=Jablonka |first1=Eva |last2=Lamb |first2=Marion J. |date=December 2002 |title=The Changing Concept of Epigenetics |journal=[[Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences]] |volume=981 |issue=1 |pages=82–96 |bibcode=2002NYASA.981...82J |doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.2002.tb04913.x |issn=0077-8923 |pmid=12547675 |s2cid=12561900}}</ref> Heritability may also occur at even larger scales. For example, ecological inheritance through the process of [[niche construction]] is defined by the regular and repeated activities of organisms in their environment. This generates a legacy of effects that modify and feed back into the selection regime of subsequent generations.<ref name="Laland-2006">{{cite journal |last1=Laland |first1=Kevin N. |last2=Sterelny |first2=Kim |author-link2=Kim Sterelny |date=September 2006 |title=Perspective: Seven Reasons (Not) to Neglect Niche Construction |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |volume=60 |issue=9 |pages=1751–1762 |doi=10.1111/j.0014-3820.2006.tb00520.x |pmid=17089961 |s2cid=22997236 |issn=0014-3820 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Other examples of heritability in evolution that are not under the direct control of genes include the inheritance of cultural traits and [[symbiogenesis]].<ref name="Chapman-1998">{{cite journal |last1=Chapman |first1=Michael J. |last2=Margulis |first2=Lynn |author-link2=Lynn Margulis |date=December 1998 |title=Morphogenesis by symbiogenesis |url=http://www.im.microbios.org/04december98/14%20Chapman.pdf |journal=[[International Microbiology]] |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=319–326 |issn=1139-6709 |pmid=10943381 |access-date=9 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140823062546/http://www.im.microbios.org/04december98/14%20Chapman.pdf |archive-date=23 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Wilson-2007">{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=David Sloan |author-link1=David Sloan Wilson |last2=Wilson |first2=Edward O. |author-link2=E. O. Wilson |date=December 2007 |title=Rethinking the Theoretical Foundation of Sociobiology |url=http://evolution.binghamton.edu/dswilson/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Rethinking-sociobiology.pdf |journal=The Quarterly Review of Biology |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=327–348 |doi=10.1086/522809 |issn=0033-5770 |pmid=18217526 |s2cid=37774648 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511235639/http://evolution.binghamton.edu/dswilson/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Rethinking-sociobiology.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref>