Epigenetics : linking genotype and phenotype in development and evolution /

The term "epigenetics" was coined in the 1940s to capture the developing understanding that forces beyond the genome were acting in a deterministic way on phenotypic development. Now, 70 years later, Hallgrimsson (Univ. of Calgary, Canada) and Hall (emer., Dalhousie Univ., Canada) have assembled the works of leading authorities and researchers to provide a review of the impact that epigenetic research has had on the field of biology. The reader will quickly appreciate the diversity of these impacts. This diversity exists not only in the mechanisms of epigenetic phenomena but also in the biological systems through which the emergent properties of these mechanisms act. The text is not meant to be an all-inclusive treatment of the field of epigenetics, but an exploration of the variety of ways that epigenetic phenomena have changed scientific understanding of developmental and evolutionary biology. The contributions from Hall and James Griesemer in the first section set the historical and philosophical stage on which the other three sections rest. The remaining sections explore the various scientific approaches (part 2) and offer a diverse sampling of the impacts that epigenetics has had on developmental (part 3) and evolutionary biology (part 4). A background in molecular genetics and evolutionary theory is required. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty. J. A. Hewlett Finger Lakes Community College