Abstract
The article by Gonzalez-Recio et al. (2015) claims to “review the concept of Lamarckian inheritance and the use of the term epigenetics in the field of animal genetics.” I began reading with interest as I am involved in selective livestock improvement (Williamson et al., 2011) using the ancestral haplotype approach to establish associations with desirable beef quality traits (Dawkins, 2015). I was curious where the epigenetics field was situated in this regard. However, in the introductory section, “The Old Ideas,” I considered their comments on an earlier book of mine (Steele et al., 1998) were incorrect. Further, the rest of their article had, in my view, a major omission on what constitutes Weismann's Doctrine and the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology (below). Having said this the review by Gonzalez-Recio et al is an otherwise thoughtful and informative article on the application of transgenerational epigenetic ideas and phenomena to livestock improvement. Indeed I have no argument with accurate recounting of the difficulties documenting “hard” epigenetic inheritance in mammals (the transmission of an epigenetic character beyond three generations).
Highlights
The article by González-Recio et al (2015) claims to “review the concept of Lamarckian inheritance and the use of the term epigenetics in the field of animal genetics.” I began reading with interest as I am involved in selective livestock improvement (Williamson et al, 2011) using the ancestral haplotype approach to establish associations with desirable beef quality traits (Dawkins, 2015)
Present, and future of epigenetics applied to livestock breeding by González-Recio, O., Toro, M
This research has run parallel to investigations on similar reverse transcriptase (RT)-based mechanisms in the antigen-driven somatic hypermutation (SHM) of rearranged immunoglobulin (Ig) variable genes, so called VDJs (Steele and Pollard, 1987; Blanden et al, 1998; Weiller et al, 1998; Franklin et al, 2004; Steele et al, 2006; Steele, 2009b)
Summary
Received: 17 October 2015 Accepted: 13 February 2016 Published: 23 February 2016. Citation: Steele EJ (2016) Commentary: Past, present, and future of epigenetics applied to livestock breeding — Hard versus Soft Lamarckian Inheritance Mechanisms. The rest of their article had, in my view, a major omission on what constitutes Weismann’s Doctrine and the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology (below) Having said this the review by Gonzalez-Recio et al is an otherwise thoughtful and informative article on the application of transgenerational epigenetic ideas and phenomena to livestock improvement. This research has run parallel to investigations on similar RT-based mechanisms in the antigen-driven somatic hypermutation (SHM) of rearranged immunoglobulin (Ig) variable genes, so called VDJs (Steele and Pollard, 1987; Blanden et al, 1998; Weiller et al, 1998; Franklin et al, 2004; Steele et al, 2006; Steele, 2009b). This has led to studies showing that RT-based strand-biased mutation mechanisms, and recently
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