AUTHOR=Bird Adrian 

TITLE=Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance: a critical perspective

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Epigenetics and Epigenomics

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/epigenetics-and-epigenomics/articles/10.3389/freae.2024.1434253

DOI=10.3389/freae.2024.1434253

ISSN=2813-706X

ABSTRACT=<p>Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in humans and other vertebrates has been controversial for over 150 years and remains so. It currently depends on the assumption that the environment is able to influence the genome, in particular by altering epigenetic marks such as DNA methylation, and that these acquired markings can enter the germline and affect phenotypes in the next generation. This article will offer a critical overview of some of the evidence beneath these assumptions–particularly regarding mammals. Whilst genome sequencing increasingly strengthens the causal relationship between genotypes and organismal characteristics, the evidence for many potentially important forms of environmentally induced epigenetic inheritance remains inconclusive.</p>