Mini-colloque « Epigenetics and plasticity: revising our concept of inheritance »
Abstract
Eva Jablonka will make a presentation of her book co-authored with Marion J. Lamb and recently published: “Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life” (MIT Press imprint Bradford Books, 2005). The book challenges the gene-centric view of evolution for what the authors consider its excessive focus on the role of DNA sequences in evolution and biological inheritance. Evolution by natural selection, rather than only acting on DNA sequence variation, acts on four different levels or "dimensions": genetic, epigenetic, behavioral, and symbolic. After this presentation, the issue of inheritance of acquired characters and auto-organization will be discussed in a round-table by Jean-Paul Renard, Vincent Fleury and Chris Bowler.