The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance

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Now is the perfect time for such a book – not only do we know many examples of epigenetics in action, we’re finally starting to understand the mechanisms of how it works. I recently saw her give a public lecture on this subject, and she proved to be an excellent speaker, and probably unique in her use of strawberry laces and marshmallows to illustrate just how the DNA molecule wraps around the histone octamer to form the basic unit of chromatin, the nucleosome. The first two chapters approach the issue of cellular differentiation by explaining the work of John Gurdon and the concept of a genetic “switch” rather than a loss of unneeded material.

Nessa Carey, a molecular biologist, explains all clearly, while sucking in the uninitiated with intriguing tales of queen bees, tortoiseshell cats, un-identical identical twins and lots more. The sex of a crocodile or an alligator depends on the temperature during critical stages in the development of the egg - the same blueprint can be used to create either a male or a female croc. Limiting the definition in this way, they retain a Waddingtonian view of the importance of mechanisms acting above the gene level and apply it to the evolution of asexual taxa.

Evolution seems to have solved the problem of creating more complex and sophisticated organisms by altering the regulation of the organisms than altering the proteins themselves. A book that would have had Darwin swooning - anyone seriously interested in who we are and how we function should read this book.

Although I did find this book difficult at times, especially the technical scientific language, Nessa Carey takes great care to explain things in a way that everyone can understand. The book is organized around themes and levels of interaction/processes in the biological hierarchy in which epigenetics acts. Epigenetics falls broadly within the area of systems biology premised on the concept that system-level phenomena are essential as explanatory factors in biology. The cutting-edge of biology, however, is telling us that we still don't even know all of the questions. To appreciate the detail into which Carey goes to describe these molecular events, you'll probably need to be either one of those scientists or studying to become one.A hugely compelling explanation of the very latest from the frontline of modern biology … The Epigenetics Revolution traces the thrilling path this discipline has taken over the last twenty years. The theme of mechanical interactions produced by muscle activity is then continued in the final chapter by Kablar, who deals with the role that this mechanisms plays in lung, retinal, and early skeletal development.