Epigenetics: Comments from an Ecologist Fritz Schiemer

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Epigenetics and Human HealthEdited by Alexander G. Haslberger, Co-edited by Sabine GresslerCopyright © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, WeinheimISBN: 978-3-527-32427-9

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The “ Comments from an Ecologist ” are based on the results of a workshop initiated by the “Forum of Austrian Scientists for Environmental Protection”. It emphasizes epigenetics as a main research priority for an improved understanding of the interactions between human societies and their environment.

In 2004 Leslie Pray summarized new scientifi c fi ndings in the area of epigenetics [1] saying that the environmental lability of epigenetic inheritance may not neces-sarily bring to mind Lamarckian ideas but it does give researchers reason to reconsider long - refuted notions about the inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Recently the US Offi ce of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment strength-ened scientifi c evidence that “ Certain environmental factors have been linked to abnormal changes in epigenetic pathways in experimental and epidemiological studies. However, because these epigenetic changes are subtle and cumulative and they manifest over time, it is often diffi cult to establish clear - cut causal relation-ships between an environmental factor, the epigenetic change and the disease ” .

These fi ndings enforce the need for scientists in many ecological areas, such as evolutionary biology, environmental protection and environmental health to follow and consider developments in the area of epigenetics.

Austria has a long history in research on ecology and evolutionary theory. Already in the 1990s Rupert Riedl, founder of the Society of Austrian Scientists for Environ-mental Protection and an active member of the Club of Rome, addressed epigenetic concepts in his work on system biology (discussed in this book).

The ecophysiologist Wolfgang Wieser, proposed a parallel concept in evolution with importance to epigenetics: He argued, in 1997, [2] that “ the focus of evolution-ary biology shifts from explaining the origin of species to the modelling of pro-cesses by which autonomous entities cooperate to form systems of greater complexity. Whereas the evolutionary theory is still dominated by the ideas of competition, the concept of transitions is dominated by the ideas of cooperation, control and confl icts on a different level of organization ” . Transitions include the

Abstract

12 3 Epigenetics: Comments from an Ecologist

replication of molecules forming populations of molecules in compartments and the transition of solitary individuals forming integrated societies. “ The common feature of these transitions is that entities capable of independent replication before the transition can replicate only as a part of a larger whole after it. Each of the major transitions represents an organizational level occupied by a certain type of biological system that evolved and created phylogenetic relationships ” . Confl icts between entities and systems are inevitable, constituting just as constructive an element of the evolutionary process as competition between entities. The quality that increases with each transition involves specialization and differentiation, allowing the exploitation of new sources of energy and materials. “ On the concept of genes as selfi sh particles rests the study of populations and genetics, on the concept of genes as systemic components rests the science of developmental and other branches of organismic biology. Organismic function is the result of the extreme interdependence of its parts, and the dominant strategy in this game is the near absolute epigenetic control of gene activity ” . In the multicellular organism the dominant mechanism behind “ division of labor ” is the epigenetic control of gene activity by molecular inhibition. The major engineering feat behind this selective process is the shutdown of genes by means of molecular inhibitors. However, the act of gene inhibition is only the fi nal step in chains of reactions that tie each gene into an information network of great complexity [3] . “ Epigenetic modifi cations construct those cellular and physiological niches, in which genes are selected ” [4] . Considering this view on evolution “ Nothing in evolutionary biology makes sense except in the light of confl icts between parts and systems. ”

These concepts of my colleagues and friends, Wolfgang Wieser and Rupert Riedl, have demonstrated the importance of physiological and evolutionary control mechanisms for an understanding of physiological adaptations to our natural environment and environmental changes. This understanding should guide our research priorities in the understanding of interactions between human societies and their environment.

I hope that this book will contribute to encouraging and strengthening further research on links between hereditary, environmental and nutritional aspects as such interdisciplinary aspects will not only stimulate progress in the understand-ing of mechanisms of evolution but also establish ways to protect environmental safety and human health. As the present president of the Forum of Austrian Sci-entists for Environmental Protection I am glad that our society started to consider the consequences and interactions between epigenetic research and ecology and initiated conferences as a starting point for the present book.

References

1 Pray , L. ( 2004 ) Epigenetics: genome, meet your environment . The Scientist , 18 , 14 .

2 Wieser , W. ( 1997 ) A major transition in Darwinism . Tree , 12 , 367 – 370 .

3 Wieser , W. ( 2001 ) Private and collective

interests; confl icts and solutions: the central theme of current thinking in evolutionary biology . Zoology (Jena) , 104 , 184 – 191 .

4 Wieser , W. ( 2007 ) Gehirn und Genom , C.H. Beck , M ü nchen .