Abstract
Background200 years have now passed since Darwin was born and scientists around the world are celebrating this important anniversary of the birth of an evolutionary visionary. However, the theories of his colleague Lamarck are treated with considerably less acclaim. These theories centre on the tendency for complexity to increase in organisms over time and the direct transmission of phenotypic traits from parents to offspring.DiscussionLamarckian concepts, long thought of no relevance to modern evolutionary theory, are enjoying a quiet resurgence with the increasing complexity of epigenetic theories of inheritance. There is evidence that epigenetic alterations, including DNA methylation and histone modifications, are transmitted transgenerationally, thus providing a potential mechanism for environmental influences to be passed from parents to offspring: Lamarckian evolution. Furthermore, evidence is accumulating that epigenetics plays an important role in many common medical conditions.SummaryEpigenetics allows the peaceful co-existence of Darwinian and Lamarckian evolution. Further efforts should be exerted on studying the mechanisms by which this occurs so that public health measures can be undertaken to reverse or prevent epigenetic changes important in disease susceptibility. Perhaps in 2059 we will be celebrating the anniversary of both Darwin and Lamarck.
Highlights
200 years have passed since Darwin was born and scientists around the world are celebrating this important anniversary of the birth of an evolutionary visionary
Further efforts should be exerted on studying the mechanisms by which this occurs so that public health measures can be undertaken to reverse or prevent epigenetic changes important in disease susceptibility
Perhaps in 2059 we will be celebrating the anniversary of both Darwin and la Marck (Lamarck)
Summary
After two centuries is there any evidence to support Lamarck's concepts? A number of studies do point to the existence of acquired characteristics and sometimes their inheritance. Methylation of the GR promoter was a specific effect of exposure to maternal nurturing (i.e. environment) as the cross-fostering experiments showed that the effect on the epigenome was the same as for the true biological offspring [5] For these epigenetic marks to behave as a Lamarkian concept, they must be transmitted between different generations of organisms. Methylation of the GR promoter region is seen in suicide victims who were abused as children [15] While this implicates acquired changes, there are examples of inheritance, the most convincing being the transmission of a cancer associated epimutation in the MLH gene from a mother to one of three sons [16].
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