Abstract
This volume discusses how contemporary genetics is present in and has an influence on domains other than the strict genetical or biological field of knowledge. It thus focuses on ‘the geneticization’ of (scientific) thinking. In order to give meaning to this concept, it needs to be addressed what contemporary genetics stands for and wherein its conceptual and practical approach towards living systems lies. Philosophy of biology has a long history in taking classical and molecular genetics under analysis, and has often described genetics as gene-centric and reductionist. Here, it is argued that this analysis has become outdated and that today ‘geneticization’ should be interpreted as ‘epi-geneticization’. This conceptual shift is supported by experimental research in molecular biology itself, showing that molecular biology is already taking up the challenge of approaching biology in less gene-centric terms. This holds implications for philosophy of biology in its debate on the gene concept, in particular, and in its study of scientific perspectives on biological organization, in general
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Beurton PJ (2000) A unified view of the gene, or how to overcome reductionism. In: Beurton PJ, Falk R, Rheinberger H-J (eds) The concept of the gene in development and evolution. Historical and epistemological perspectives. Cambridge University Press, pp 286–316.
Bolker JA (1995) Model systems in developmental biology. BioEssays 17 (5):451–455.
Crick FHC (1958) On protein synthesis. Symp Soc Exp Biol XII:138–163.
Cubas P, Coral V, Coen E (1999) An epigenetic mutation responsible for natural variation in floral symmetry. Nature 401:157–161.
Dawkins R (1989) (1976) The selfish gene. New edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Falk R (2000) The Gene - A concept in tension. In: Beurton PJ, Falk R, Rheinberger H-J (eds) The concept of the gene in development and evolution. Historical and epistemological perspectives. Cambridge University Press, pp 317–348.
Fogle T (2000) The dissolution of protein coding genes in molecular biology. In: Beurton PJ, Falk R, Rheinberger H-J (eds) The concept of the gene in development and evolution. Historical and epistemological perspectives. Cambridge University Press, pp 3–25.
Gifford F (2000) Gene concept and genetic concepts. In: Beurton PJ, Falk R, Reinberger H-J (eds) The concept of the gene in development and evolution. Historical and epistemological perspectives. Cambridge University Press, pp 40–68.
Gilbert SF (1996) Enzymatic adaptation and the entrance of molecular biology into embryology. In: Sarkar S (ed) The philosophy and history of molecular biology: new perspectives. Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, pp 101–123.
Griesemer JR (2002) What is ‘epi’ about epigenetics? In: Van SL, Van de VG, De Waele D (eds) From epigenesis to epigenetics: the genome in context, vol 981, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, pp 97–110.
Henikoff S, Matzke MA (1997) Exploring and explaining epigenetic effects. Trends Genet 13(8):293–295.
Holliday R (1987) The inheritance of epigenetic defects. Science 238:163–170.
Holliday R (1994) Epigenetics: an overview. Dev Gen 15:453–457.
Holliday R (1996) DNA methylation in eukaryotes: 20 years on. In: Russo VEA, Martienssen RA, Riggs AD (eds). Epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, pp 5–27.
Jablonka E (1994) Inheritance systems and the evolution of new levels of individuality. J Theor Biol 170:301–309.
Jablonka E, Lamb MJ (1995) Epigenetic inheritance and evolution: the lamarckian dimension. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Jablonka E, Lamb MJ (2002) The changing concept of epigenetics. In: Van SL, Van de Vijver G, De Waele D (eds) From epigenesis to epigenetics: the genome in context, vol 981, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, pp 82–96.
Jenuwein T, Allis CD (2001) Translating the histone code. Science 293:1074–1080.
Jones PA, Takai D (2001) The role of DNA methylation in mammalian epigenetics. Science 293:1068–1070.
Kass SU, Wolffe AP (1996) Histones, Histone modification, and the inheritance of chromatin structure. In: Russo VEA, Martienssen RA, Riggs AD (eds) Epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, pp 529–545.
Keller EF (1995) Refiguring life: metaphors of twentieth-century biology. Columbia University Press, New York.
Lewin B (1998) The mystique of epigenetics. Cell 93:301–303.
Lewontin RC (2001) Gene, organism and environment: a new introduction. In: Oyama S, Griffiths PE, Gray RD (eds) Cycles of contingency. developmental systems and evolution. The MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 55–58.
Martienssen RA, Colot V (2001) DNA methylation and epigenetic inheritance in plants and filamentous fungi. Science 293:1070–1074.
Morange M (1998) (1994) A history of molecular biology. Original title: Histoire de la biologie molélaire. Trans by Cobb M. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Morange M (2000) The developmental gene concept: history and limits. In: Beurton PJ, Falk R, Rheinberger H-J (eds) The concept of the gene in development and evolution. Historical and epistemological perspectives. Cambridge University Press, pp 193–218.
Morange M (2001) The misunderstood gene. Transl by Cobb M from La Part des Génes, 1998, editions Odile Jacob. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Morange M (2002) The relations between genetics and epigenetics: a historical point of view. In: Van SL, Van de Vijver G, De Waele D (eds) From epigenesis to epigenetics: The genome in context, vol 981, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, pp 50–60.
Morgan HD, Sutherland HG, Martin DI, Whitelaw E (1999) Epigenetic inheritance at the agouti locus in mouse. Nat Genet 23:314–318.
Moss L (2001) Deconstructing the gene and reconstructing molecular developmental systems. In: Oyama S, Griffiths PE, Gray RD (eds). Cycles of contingency. Developmental systems and evolution. The MIT Press, Cambridge pp 85–98.
Moss L (2003) What genes can’t do. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Nelkin D, Lindee MS (1995) The DNA mystique. The gene as a cultural icon. W H Freeman and Company, New York.
Neumann-Held EM (2001) Let’s talk about genes: the process molecular gene concept and its context. In: Oyama S, Griffiths PE, Gray RD (eds) Cycles of contingency. Developmental systems and evolution. The MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 69–84.
Neumann-Held EM, Rehmann-SC (1999). Individuation and reality of genes. A comment to Peter J. Beurton’s article: ‘Was sind Gene heute?’ Theory Biosci 118:85–95.
Oyama S (1985) The ontogeny of information. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, London.
Oyama S, Griffiths PE, Gray RD (eds) (2001) Cycles of contingency. Developmental systems and evolution. The MIT Press, Cambridge.
Pennsi E (2001) Behind the scenes of gene expression. Science 293 (Special issue on epigenetics):1064–1067.
Petronis A (2001) Human morbid genetics revisited: relevance of epigenetics. Trends Genet 17(3):142–146.
Portin P (1993) The concept of the gene: short history and present status. The Q Rev Biol 68(2):173–223.
Rheinberger H-J (2000) Gene Concepts: fragments from the perspective of molecular biology. In: Beurton PJ, Falk R, Rheinberger H-J (eds) The concept of the gene in development and evolution. Historical and epistemological perspectives. Cambridge University Press, pp 219–239.
Riggs AD, Martienssen RA, Russo VEA (eds) (1996) Epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York.
Robinson JD (1992) Aims and achievements of the reductionist approach in biochemistry/molecular biology/cell biology: a response to Kincaid. Philos Sci 59:465–470.
Roemer I, Reif W, Dean W, Klose J (1997) Epigenetic inheritance in the mouse. Curr Biol 7:277–280.
Ruiz-Mirazo K, Etxeberria A, Moreno A, Ibá≁ez J (2000) Organisms and their place in biology. Theory Biosci 119:209–233.
Sarkar S (1996) Biological information: a skeptical look at some central dogmas of molecular biology. In: Sarkar S (ed) The philosophy and history of molecular biology: New perspectives. Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, pp 187–231.
Sarkar S (1998) Genetics and reductionism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Shapiro JA (2002) Genome organization and reorganization in evolution: formatting for computation and function. In: Van SL, Van de Vijver G, De Waele D (eds) From epigenesis to epigenetics: the genome in context, vol 981, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, pp 111–134.
Stotz K, Griffiths PE, Knight R (2004) How biologists conceptualize genes: an empirical study. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 35(4):647–673.
Thieffry D (1998) Forty years under the central dogma. Trends Biochem Sci 23:312–316.
Torres JM (1999) On the falsification of the Central Dogma and the De novo synthesis of molecular species. Philos Nat 36(1):1–18.
Van de Vijver G, Van Speybroeck L, Vandevyvere W (2003). Reflections on complexity in biological systems: Kant and beyond. Acta Biotheor 51(2):101–140.
Van Speybroeck L (2000) The organism: a crucial genomic context in molecular epigenetics? Theory in Biosci 119:187–208.
Van Speybroeck L (2002) From Epigenesis to Epigenetics: the case of CH Waddington. In: Van SL, Van de Vijver G, De Waele D (eds) From epigenesis to epigenetics: the genome in context, vol 981, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, pp 61–82.
Van Speybroeck L, Van de Vijver G, De Waele D (2002) Theories in early embryology. Close connections between epigenesis, preformationis, and self-organization. In: Van SL, Van de Vijver G, De Waele D (eds) From Epigenesis to Epigenetics: the genome in context, vol. 981, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, pp 7–50.
Waddington CH (1947) (1940) Organisers and genes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Waddington CH (1975) The evolution of an evolutionist. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
Waters KC (1994) Genes made molecular. Philos Sci 61:163–185.
Waters KC (2004) What was classical genetics? Studies in History and Philos Sci 35:783–808.
Whitelaw E, Martin DIK (2001) Retrotransposons as epigenetic mediators of phenotypic variation in mammals. Nat Genet 27:361–365.
Wu CT, Morris JR (2001) Genes, genetics, and epigenetics: a correspondence. Science 293:1103–1105; Full text at www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/293/5532/1103/DC1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Van Speybroeck, L., Van De Vijver, G., De Waele, D. (2007). Epi-Geneticization. In: Fagot-Largeault, A., Rahman, S., Torres, J.M. (eds) The Influence of Genetics on Contemporary Thinking. Logic, Epistemology, and The Unity of Science, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5664-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5664-2_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5663-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5664-2
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)