Gadagkar, R (2000) Genomic Imprinting - Some Interesting Implications for the Evolution of Social Behaviour. In: Resonance - journal of science education, 5 (9). pp. 58-68.
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Abstract
In all diploid organisms such as ourselves, each individual inherits one set of chromosomes from the mother and another set from the father. It is generally assumed that once these chromosomes reach our bodies, they lose any 'memory' of where they came from. However there is evidence that chromosomes (and the genes they contain) sometimes get differentially imprinted as they pass through a male or female body and this imprint may be retained when the chromosomes are passed on to the next generation (see accompanying article by Ranganath and Tanuja). There is also evidence that DNA methylation is a mechanism by which chromosomes may acquire such malespecific or female-specific imprints. Differential patterns of DNA methylation are known to lead to different levels of gene expression. What all this means then is that our paternally derived genes and maternally derived genes may behave differently in our bodies even though they may be otherwise identical. To the extent that genes influence our behaviour it may well be that our father's genes and mother's genes pull us in different directions.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Resonance - journal of science education |
| Publisher: | Indian Academy of Sciences |
| Keywords: | Genomic imprinting, Social behaviour, Evolution, Sex determination |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Mar 2021 11:18 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Mar 2021 11:18 |
| URI: | http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/68162 |
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