"Epigenetic" is a word that has been sabotaged recently by some biologists.Conrad Waddington is usually credited with coining the term "epigenetics" - in 1942 - meaning:
The branch of biology which studies the causal interactions between genes and their products, which bring the phenotype into being.
I think this usage is fine.
However, these days, the term "epigenetic" has been hijacked by a bunch of ignorant biologists who think it should mean this:
Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in phenotype caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence.
I think this usage is absolutely awful.
Definition of the words "gene" or "genetic" that specify nucleic acids seem terrible to me. Genetics is - or should be - the basic science of heredity in biology. If we make creatures with non-nucleic-acid inheritance media, or find creatures with non-nucleic-acid inheritance, or consider our distant non-nucleic-acid-based ancestors, we really do not want to have to redefine the basic terms of genetics to be able to discuss how they inherit things. This is a problem we should be smart enough to be able to see coming.
So: please boycott the "new" epigenetics. It hijacks a perfectly acceptable piece of terminology, and turns it into an awful stinking mess.
If anyone ever starts talking to you about "epigenetic inheritance", well, please refer them to this page.
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Yes, good comment. What they mean is "transgenerational epigenetics" Also they usually think something is modified around the DNA that changes gene expression. But epigenetics would also be some changes in the phenotype (not necessarily transgenerational) that is not linked to a change in gene expression.
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