Is epigenetics simply a new buzzword - or is there something more
to it? In order to find out, an analysis is to be made of its relation
and/or contribution to recent scientific issues.
Some
directional questions: How can we delineate epigenetics with respect
to genetics? Is the dichotomy between epigenetics and genetics still
tenable? Is genetics still the dominant part of the explanatory picture?
Does epigenetics complexify the debate on what the basic unit of life
is? Does epigenetics broaden the neo-Darwinian theory by providing
new mechanisms of variation in organic life? Does epigenetics provide
arguments for the determinative role of the environment in the causation
of DNA sequence variation? Does it contribute to a solution of the
nature-nurture dichotomy?
Epigenetic research shows a developing hierarchy of different levels
of genomic context. Most research occurs on the intracellular level.
The higher one goes in the hierarchy, the harder it becomes to find
experimental support. The organismic context, for example, has been
fundamentally less explored.
Is
the epigenetic approach limited by its main focus on molecular mechanisms?
Or will all our views in biology be positively affected by a form
of molecularization? How does it relate to the debate on reductionism
and holism? In particular, will an epistemological holism bring new
insights on the role of the internal organization of the organism
in evolutionary and developmental processes?
Epigenetic researchers from different subdisciplines will be invited
to discuss the rich amount of data and facts uncovered during their
specific research. This will provide an opportunity to encounter the
fascinating world of model organisms, molecules, techniques and tools.
Does
experimental research, in its current phase, lead to plausible (and
testable) speculations on the origins and role of epigenetic phenomena
in evolution and development? Which pragmatic difficulties does one
encounter in setting up experimental cases to test possible epigenetic
hypotheses?
In the 1950s, Conrad H. Waddington coined the term epigenetics to
bring developmental biology close to genetics. Whereas genetics had
been more or less successfully united with evolutionary theory under
the Modern Synthesis, the synthesis that Waddington had in mind never
really took off.
To
what extent did Waddington's ideas announce the place of epigenetics
in current biological science? Where does the new epigenetics differ
from Waddington's original intuitions?
Keywords
complexity,
development, epigenesis, epigenetics, epigenetic variation, evolution,
experimental molecular biology, gene-centrism, genetics, genomic context,
heritability, history of science, natural selection, philosophy of
science, self-organization
