scholarly journals Epigenetic inheritance and evolution: a historian's perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1826) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Loison
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Epigenetic Inheritance ◽  
Genetic Assimilation ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Baldwin Effect ◽  
Genetic Inheritance ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Baldwin Effect

The aim of this article is to put the growing interest in epigenetics in the field of evolutionary theory into a historical context. First, I assess the view that epigenetic inheritance could be seen as vindicating a revival of (neo)Lamarckism. Drawing on Jablonka's and Lamb's considerable output, I identify several differences between modern epigenetics and what Lamarckism was in the history of science. Even if Lamarckism is not back, epigenetic inheritance might be appealing for evolutionary biologists because it could potentiate two neglected mechanisms: the Baldwin effect and genetic assimilation. Second, I go back to the first ideas about the Baldwin effect developed in the late nineteenth century to show that the efficiency of this mechanism was already linked with a form of non-genetic inheritance. The opposition to all forms of non-genetic inheritance that prevailed at the time of the rise of the Modern Synthesis helps to explain why the Baldwin effect was understood as an insignificant mechanism during the second half of the twentieth century. Based on this historical reconstruction, in §4, I examine what modern epigenetics can bring to the picture and under what conditions epigenetic inheritance might be seen as strengthening the causal relationship between adaptability and adaptation. Throughout I support the view that the Baldwin effect and genetic assimilation, even if they are quite close, should not be conflated, and that drawing a line between these concepts is helpful in order to better understand where epigenetic inheritance might endorse a new causal role.This article is part of the theme issue ‘How does epigenetics influence the course of evolution?’

Hebephrenia: a conceptual history

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Kraam ◽  
Paula Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Expression ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Classification Systems ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Conceptual History ◽  
Dsm 5 ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dsm Iv ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
Psychiatric Establishment

This paper traces the conceptual history of hebephrenia from the late nineteenth century until it became firmly embedded into modern psychiatric classification systems. During this examination of the origins and the historical context of hebephrenia it will be demonstrated how it became inextricably linked with twentieth-century notions of schizophrenia. The first detailed description of hebephrenia in 1871 by Ewald Hecker, then a virtually unknown German psychiatrist, created a furore in the psychiatric establishment. Within a decade hebephrenia was a firmly embedded concept of adolescent insanity. Daraszkiewicz, Kraepelin’s brilliant assistant in Dorpat, broadened Hecker’s concept of hebephrenia by including severe forms. This paved the way for Kraepelin to incorporate it together with catatonia as a subtype of dementia praecox. We recognize Hecker’s hebephrenia in DSM-IV as schizophrenia, disorganized type. Although DSM-5 will probably abolish subtypes of schizophrenia, characteristic features of hebephrenia will be found within the proposed domains of disorganization, restricted emotional expression and avolition.

scholarly journals Transient Phenomena in Learning and Evolution: Genetic Assimilation and Genetic Redistribution

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 177-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Wiles ◽  
James Watson ◽  
Bradley Tonkes ◽  
Terrence Deacon
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin C ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Fitness Function ◽  
Genetic Assimilation ◽  
Baldwin Effect ◽  
Transient Phenomena ◽  
The Baldwin Effect ◽  
Redistribution Effect

Deacon has recently proposed that complexes of genes can be integrated into functional groups as a result of environmental changes that mask and unmask selection pressures. For example, many animals endogenously synthesize ascorbic acid (vitamin C), but anthropoid primates have only a nonfunctional version of the crucial gene for this pathway. It is hypothesized that the loss of functionality occurred in the evolutionary past when a diet rich in vitamin C masked the effect of the gene, and its loss effectively trapped the animals in a fruit-eating lifestyle. As a result, the complex of abilities that support this lifestyle were evolutionarily bound together, forming a multilocus complex. In this study we use evolutionary computation simulations to explore the thesis that masking and unmasking can transfer dependence from one set of genes to many sets, and thereby integrate the whole complex of genes. We used a framework based on Hinton and Nowlan's 1987 simulation of the Baldwin effect. Additional gene complexes and an environmental parameter were added to their basic model, and the fitness function extended. The simulation clearly demonstrates that the genetic redistribution effect can occur in silico, showing an initial advantage of endogenously synthesized vitamin C, followed by transfer of the fitness contribution to the complex of genes that together allow the acquisition of vitamin C from the environment. As is well known in the modeling community, the Baldwin effect only occurs in simulations when the population of agents is “poised on the brink” of discovering the genetically specified solution. Similarly, the redistribution effect occurs in simulations under specific initial conditions: too little vitamin C in the environment, and its synthesis it is never fully masked; too much vitamin C, and the abilities required to acquire it are not tightly integrated. The Baldwin effect has been hypothesized as a potential mechanism for developing language-specific adaptations like innate universal grammar and other highly modular capacities. We conclude with a discussion of the relevance of genetic assimilation and genetic redistribution to the evolution of language and other cognitive adaptations.

Landscapes, Learning Costs, and Genetic Assimilation

1996 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giles Mayley
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Small Distance ◽  
Genetic Assimilation ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Baldwin Effect ◽  
Adaptive Processes ◽  
Adaptive Ability ◽  
The Baldwin Effect ◽  
Neighborhood Correlation

The evolution of a population can be guided by phenotypic traits acquired by members of that population during their lifetime. This phenomenon, known as the Baldwin effect, can speed the evolutionary process as traits that are initially acquired become genetically specified in later generations. This paper presents conditions under which this genetic assimilation can take place. As well as the benefits that lifetime adaptation can give a population, there may be a cost to be paid for that adaptive ability. It is the evolutionary trade-off between these costs and benefits that provides the selection pressure for acquired traits to become genetically specified. It is also noted that genotypic space, in which evolution operates, and phenotypic space, in which adaptive processes (such as learning) operate, are, in general, of a different nature. To guarantee that an acquired characteristic can become genetically specified, these spaces must have the property of neighborhood correlation, which means that a small distance between two individuals in phenotypic space implies that there is a small distance between the same two individuals in genotypic space.

scholarly journals Museum Photo Archives and the History of the Art Market: A Digital Approach

Arts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Lukas Fuchsgruber
Keyword(s):  
Digital Images ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Art Market ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Economic Practices ◽  
History Of ◽  
Digital Methods ◽  
Unique Potential

Digital images with metadata contain unique potential for research into the history of the art market. The embedding of digital images in a database allows for the possibility of an association with their historical context due to the presence of metadata, which includes economic data, such as the provenance chain, as well as information about collecting practices. The database becomes a historical reconstruction of context accompanying the reproductions of the works. In this paper, a case study of a museum photo archive of forgeries illustrates the ways in which digital methods can be helpful in analyzing these contexts. The archive was run by the secret “Verband von Museums-Beamten zur Abwehr von Fälschungen und unlauterem Geschäftsgebahren” (Association of Museum Officials for Defense against Fakes and Improper Business Practices). This archive allows the engagement of early 20th century museums in the art market to be traced within specific genres. The goal of the case study and methodology presented here is to learn more about the economic practices of museums. Specifically, this paper reconsiders a study by Timothy Wilson on fake maiolica, with a new focus on the involvement of museums in the art market.

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