Embryos Receive Parent-Specific Layers of Information
Following up on last week's article about offspring and mothers' previous sexual partners (in insects, anyway), new research now sheds some additional light on the multi-layered process of how a sperm and egg pass along information needed for successful reproduction.As described in an article published in the journal PLOS Genetics:
Though one layer is the DNA code that is transferred, the new study identifies information not encoded by DNA, a so-called "epigenetic" layer of information that helps the cell interpret the genetic code.In insects this additional "epigenetic" layer of information apparently can come from a previous mate. The question if such or similar mechanisms can also exist in higher organisms, e.g. also in humans, might be far fetched, but not that far, that it precludes a more thorough research. Clearly, there are still plenty of unknown factors in human and non-human reproduction: an area ripe for further research.
Over on Metafilter I found out that Steve "Buy My Unnecessary 1992 Disk Repair Program For Your 2 TB SATA Drive Today" Gibson is now pushing a diet based on eating primarily fat and forcing your body into a steady state of ketosis (often a feature of Atkins style protein diets).
I was perfectly fine with Mehmet Oz doing a Dr. Oprah show, until I found out he's also a pusher of reiki and various other nuttery because his wife is into it.