Background Explanation Of Epigenetics By Conrad Waddington

DNA than the their less depressed counterparts (Reiche, Vargas Nunes, Kaminami Morimoto, 2004). Background Explanation of Epigenetics Epigenetics What is epigenetics? Epigenetics is a term that was coined by Conrad Waddington that describes the heritable changes in the cellular phenotypes that are observed independently of alterations that occurs in the DNA sequence (Dawson Kouzarides, 2012). He proposed that there was a link between development and genetics, which is where the field of epigenetics came from. The word epigenetics itself was derived from a Greek word epigenesist. Epigenesist is the theory of development that proposed the early embryo was undifferentiated. The broad meaning of epigenetics would be defined as the unfolding of the genetic program for development. However, Waddington’s definition of epigenetics was not much different than that of embryology (Holliday, 2006). Over time the definition of epigenetics has evolved into the study of heritable changes in gene expression that occurs independently of the changed in the primary DNA sequence (Sharma, Kelly, Jones, 2010). Ernst Hadorn, another scien tist that became important in the study of epigenetics for his research with Drosophila, and the discovery of the imaginal discs. These discs were completely undifferentiated cells that existed during development. Hadorn later went on to determine that each of these imaginal disc developed into symmetrical parts of the adult structure. This led Hadorn andShow MoreRelatedNature vs. Nurture Shown in Family Addiction3111 Words   |  12 Pagessurrounding the explanation of John’s outcome have been debated for centuries by ordinary people, philosophers, geneticists and psychologists. With recent advancements, a second genome has been recognized and established as the â€Å"epigenome,† which is directly influenced by the outside environment (Francis). While extreme positions still exist within the nature vs. nurture debate, most scientists now agree that a combination of the two determines ones outcome; with the burgeoning field of epigenetics, however