Youngson Neil A, Whitelaw Emma
Department of Population Studies and Human Genetics, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane 4006, Australia.
Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet. 2008;9:233-57. doi: 10.1146/annurev.genom.9.081307.164445.
Transgenerational epigenetic effects include all processes that have evolved to achieve the nongenetic determination of phenotype. There has been a long-standing interest in this area from evolutionary biologists, who refer to it as non-Mendelian inheritance. Transgenerational epigenetic effects include both the physiological and behavioral (intellectual) transfer of information across generations. Although in most cases the underlying molecular mechanisms are not understood, modifications of the chromosomes that pass to the next generation through gametes are sometimes involved, which is called transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. There is a trend for those outside the field of molecular biology to assume that most cases of transgenerational epigenetic effects are the result of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, in part because of a misunderstanding of the terms. Unfortunately, this is likely to be far from the truth.
跨代表观遗传效应包括所有为实现表型的非遗传决定而进化出的过程。进化生物学家长期以来一直对这一领域感兴趣，他们将其称为非孟德尔遗传。跨代表观遗传效应包括信息在代际间的生理和行为（智力）传递。尽管在大多数情况下，其潜在的分子机制尚不清楚，但有时会涉及通过配子传递给下一代的染色体修饰，这被称为跨代表观遗传继承。分子生物学领域之外的人有一种倾向，即认为大多数跨代表观遗传效应的情况是跨代表观遗传继承的结果，部分原因是对这些术语的误解。不幸的是，这很可能与事实相去甚远。
