The Theory of Evolution ignored Waddington's Epigenetics for close to 50 years

"It is doubtful, however, whether even the most statistically minded geneticists are entirely satisfied that nothing more is involved than the sorting out of random mutations by the natural selective filter." - Conrad Waddington, Letter to Nature journal the year the MS was released in '42

Waddington's work on epigenetics was largely ignored by the supporters of the Modern Synthesis, which is the prevailing theory of evolution that emerged in the 1930s and 1940s. The Modern Synthesis emphasized the role of natural selection in evolution, and it downplayed the role of other factors, such as epigenetics.

Waddington argued that epigenetics played a more important role in evolution than the Modern Synthesis acknowledged. He proposed the concept of the epigenetic landscape, which is a model of how genes interact with the environment to produce different phenotypes. 


Waddington Landscape

Waddington's ideas were ahead of their time, and they are now being increasingly recognized as important for understanding evolution.

There are a few reasons why Waddington's work was ignored by the Modern Synthesis supporters. First, epigenetics was a new and controversial field at the time. Second, the Modern Synthesis was focused on explaining macroevolution, which is the evolution of new species. Waddington's work was more concerned with microevolution, which is the evolution of populations within a species. Third, the Modern Synthesis was based on the gene-centered view of evolution, which emphasizes the role of genes in evolution. 


F Cricks Central Dogma

Waddington's work challenged this view by suggesting that the environment could also play a role in gene expression.

Despite being ignored by the Modern Synthesis supporters, Waddington's work has had a lasting impact on the field of biology. His ideas about epigenetics are now being increasingly recognized as important for understanding evolution. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in epigenetics, and it is now seen as a promising area of research for understanding how genes and the environment interact to produce different phenotypes.


PubMed Citations of Epigenetics in just the last 20 years

Here are some of the reasons why Waddington's work is now being more appreciated:

  • Advances in molecular biology have made it possible to study epigenetics in more detail.

  • The discovery of epigenetic changes in diseases such as cancer has shown the importance of epigenetics in human health.

  • The increasing recognition of the role of the environment in evolution has made Waddington's ideas more relevant.

Waddington's work is still being debated, but it is clear that he was a visionary thinker who made important contributions to our understanding of evolution.


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