The mechanisms and fitness consequences of nongenetic inheritance

几十年来，人们一直认为父母几乎完全通过他们传递的基因来影响后代的特征，这一假设构成了现代遗传学和进化理论的基础。然而，越来越清楚的是，父母也可以通过许多其他方式影响他们的后代，这种“非遗传遗传”可以允许环境影响跨代传递。越来越多的证据表明，非遗传性遗传在遗传性疾病中起着至关重要的作用，理论表明它可以影响进化。根据有趣的初步发现，该项目将研究非遗传遗传的机制和后果。

For many decades, it was assumed that parents influence the characteristics of their offspring almost exclusively through the genes that they transmit, and this assumption forms the basis of modern genetics and evolutionary theory. However, it is becoming increasing clear that parents can also influence their offspring in many other ways, and that such 'nongenetic inheritance' can allow for the transmission of environmental influences across generations. Accumulating evidence suggests that nongenetic inheritance plays a crucial role in heritable diseases, and theory suggests that it can influence evolution. Following up on intriguing preliminary findings, this project will investigate the mechanisms and consequences of nongenetic inheritance.