"The molecular and mathematical basis of Waddington's epigenetic landscape: A framework for post-Darwinian biology?" - review


The article "The molecular and mathematical basis of Waddington's epigenetic landscape: A framework for post-Darwinian biology?" by Sui Huang (2012) proposes a new framework for understanding the relationship between genes, environment, and development. The article argues that Neo-Darwinism does not take into account the role of epigenetics. 

Epigenetic changes are changes in gene expression that are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence. They can be caused by environmental factors, such as diet, stress, or exposure to chemicals.

Huang's article argues that epigenetic changes can have a profound impact on development. They can cause cells to take different developmental paths, even if they have the same genetic makeup. This means that the same genotype can give rise to different phenotypes, depending on the epigenetic environment.

Huang's article also argues that epigenetic changes can be inherited. This means that they can be passed down from parents to offspring, even if the offspring do not have the same environmental exposures as their parents. This could potentially explain how some traits, such as susceptibility to certain diseases, can run in families.

Huang's article concludes by arguing that the epigenetic landscape provides a new framework for understanding the relationship between genes, environment, and development. It suggests that epigenetic changes can play a role in both evolution and development. This could have important implications for our understanding of how organisms change over time, and how they respond to environmental change.

The article challenges many of the assumptions of Neo-Darwinism, such as the idea that genes are the only determinants of phenotype. The article suggests that epigenetic changes can also play a role in determining phenotype, and that these changes can be inherited. This could potentially lead to a new understanding of evolution, one that takes into account the role of epigenetics.

In addition to the article by Huang, there are a number of other articles that have proposed frameworks for understanding the relationship between genes, environment, and development outside of Neo-Darwinism. For example, the theory of gene-environment interaction (GxE) suggests that genes and environment interact in complex ways to determine phenotype. The theory of epigenetic inheritance suggests that epigenetic changes can be inherited, and that these changes can play a role in determining phenotype.

These theories are still under development, but they offer new perspectives on the relationship between genes, environment, and development. They could potentially lead to a new understanding of evolution, one that takes into account the role of epigenetics and gene-environment interaction.

Article snippets:


The Neo-Darwinian concept of natural selection is plausible when one assumes a straightforward causation of phenotype by genotype.

However, such simple 1:1 mapping must now give place to the modern concepts of gene regulatory networks and gene expression noise.

Both can, in the absence of genetic mutations, jointly generate a diversity of 

inheritable randomly occupied phenotypic states that could also serve as a substrate for natural selection.

This form of epigenetic dynamics challenges Neo-Darwinism

gene regulatory networks and Waddington's metaphoric ‘epigenetic landscape’, which actually represents the quasi-potential function of global network dynamics.

It explains the coexistence of multiple stable phenotypes within one genotype.

The landscape's topography with its attractors is shaped by evolution through mutational re-wiring of regulatory interactions – offering a link between genetic mutation and sudden, broad evolutionary changes.





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