| Title | The molecular and mathematical basis of Waddington's epigenetic landscape: A framework for post-Darwinian biology? |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2012 |
| Authors | Huang S |
| Journal | BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology |
| Volume | 34 |
| Pagination | 149-57 |
| Date Published | Feb |
| PMID | 22102361 |
| Abstract | 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. It needs to incorporate the non-linear, stochastic dynamics of gene networks. A first step is to consider the mathematical correspondence between 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. |
| Short Title | BioessaysBioessays |
| Alternate Journal | Bioessays |
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