The hidden power of epigenetics: Best ideas of the century

At the dawn of the millennium, the number of genes in our genome was still up for discussion. When we finally got our first official estimate, the number was so far below expectations that it helped turbocharge a movement to rethink the evolutionary process.

In 2001, the Human Genome Project announced we have no more than 40,000 protein-coding genes – a figure that has since been revised down to about 20,000. We needed other mechanisms to explain the complexity of our biology and evolution. It was epigenetics’ time to shine.

Epigenetics is a catch-all term to describe how a wide variety of molecules interact with DNA or RNA to influence the activity of genes without changing the underlying genetic code. Two cells with identical genomes but different epigenetic markers can look and behave very differently.

Epigenetics offers a way to squeeze more complexity out of the genome, through things like environmental factors. And some biologists are convinced it can do much more, potentially even influencing the evolutionary process.

We know how this might happen. In a 2019 study in which yeast was exposed to a toxic chemical, the toxin killed the yeast by interacting with a protein produced by one of its genes. But yeast cells with the capacity to silence that gene, through an epigenetic pathway, survived. After several generations, some yeast cells in the thriving population developed genetic mutations that reinforced the silencing of the vulnerable gene. The yeast had evolved, its genetic code had changed – but those genetic changes began with epigenetic modifications.

Epigenetics has become a cornerstone of a drive to extend and expand evolutionary theory. But despite evidence that epigenetics can influence the evolution of plants and microbes, there isn’t universal acceptance that this applies more broadly.

“I am sceptical,” says Adrian Bird, who researches genetics at the University of Edinburgh, UK. In a paper last year, he argued there is no obvious way for environmental factors, such as drought and famine, to influence the mammalian genome. What’s more, epigenetic markers can be passed from parent to offspring, but many are removed early in mammalian embryo development.

Others brush off these concerns. “Epigenetic inheritance is common in both plants and animals,” says Kevin Lala, an evolutionary biologist at the University of St Andrews, UK. In a book published last year, Lala and his colleagues offered a long list of studies that suggest epigenetics affects evolution across life’s tree.

Why are opinions so strongly divided? Perhaps it’s a question of timing. “Epigenetic inheritance is a very fast-moving field,” says Lala. Although it has been on the biological radar for 80 years, it is only within the past 25 years that epigenetics has become a central focus of evolutionary research – and big ideas take time to process and assess.