Commentary: Past, present, and future of epigenetics applied to livestock breeding - Hard versus Soft Lamarckian Inheritance Mechanisms.

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).