Transformations of Lamarckism: From Subtle Fluids to Molecular Biology

480 Pages·2011·2.83 MB·English

by  Snait B. Gissis, Eva Jablonka

T ransformations of Lamarckism
V ienna Series in Theoretical Biology
G erd B. Mü l ler, Gü n ter P. Wagner, and Werner Callebaut, editors
T he Evolution of Cognition, e dited by Cecilia Heyes and Ludwig Huber, 2000
O rigination of Organismal Form: Beyond the Gene in Development and Evolutionary Biology, e dited by
Gerd B. Mü l ler and Stuart A. Newman, 2003
E nvironment, Development, and Evolution: Toward a Synthesis , edited by Brian K. Hall, Roy D. Pearson,
and Gerd B. Mü l ler, 2004
E volution of Communication Systems: A Comparative Approach , edited by D. Kimbrough Oller and
Ulrike Griebel, 2004
M odularity: Understanding the Development and Evolution of Natural Complex Systems, e dited by
Werner Callebaut and Diego Rasskin-Gutman, 2005
C ompositional Evolution: The Impact of Sex, Symbiosis, and Modularity on the Gradualist Framework
of Evolution, b y Richard A. Watson, 2006
B iological Emergences: Evolution by Natural Experiment, b y Robert G. B. Reid, 2007
M odeling Biology: Structure, Behaviors, Evolution, e dited by Manfred D. Laubichler and Gerd B. Mü l ler,
2007
E volution of Communicative Flexibility: Complexity, Creativity, and Adaptability in Human and Animal
Communication, e dited by Kimbrough D. Oller and Ulrike Griebel, 2008
F unctions in Biological and Artifi cial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives, e dited by Ulrich
Krohs and Peter Kroes, 2009
C ognitive Biology: Evolutionary and Developmental Perspectives on Mind, Brain, and Behavior, e dited
by Luca Tommasi, Mary A. Peterson, and Lynn Nadel, 2009
I nnovation in Cultural Systems: Contributions from Evolutionary Anthropology, e dited by Michael J.
O’ B rien and Stephen J. Shennan, 2010
T he Major Transitions in Evolution Revisited, e dited by Brett Calcott and Kim Sterelny, 2011
T ransformations of Lamarckism: From Subtle Fluids to Molecular Biology, e dited by Snait B. Gissis, and
Eva Jablonka, 2011
T ransformations of Lamarckism
F rom Subtle Fluids to Molecular Biology
e dited by Snait B. Gissis and Eva Jablonka
w ith illustrations by Anna Zeligowski
T he MIT Press
C ambridge, Massachusetts
L ondon, England
© 2 011 M assachusetts Institute of Technology
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C ontents
S eries Foreword i x
P reface x i
A cknowledgments x v
I NTRODUCTORY ESSAYS 1
1 L amarck, Darwin, and the Contemporary Debate about Levels of
Selection 3
G abriel Motzkin
2 J ean-Baptiste Lamarck: F rom Myth to History 9
P ietro Corsi
I H ISTORY 1 9
3 I ntroduction: Lamarckian Problematics in Historical Perspective 2 1
S nait B. Gissis
4 L amarck, Cuvier, and Darwin on Animal Behavior and Acquired
Characters 3 3
R ichard W. Burkhardt, Jr.
5 T he Golden Age of Lamarckism, 1866– 1 926 4 5
S ander Gliboff
6 G erminal Selection: A Weismannian Solution to Lamarckian
Problematics 5 7
C harlotte Weissman
7 T he Notions of Plasticity and Heredity among French Neo-Lamarckians
(1880– 1 940): F rom Complementarity to Incompatibility 6 7
L aurent Loison
vi Contents
8 L amarckism and Lysenkoism Revisited 7 7
N ils Roll-Hansen
9 L amarckism and the Constitution of Sociology 8 9
S nait B. Gissis
I I T HE MODERN SYNTHESIS 1 01
1 0 I ntroduction: The Exclusion of Soft (“ L amarckian” ) Inheritance from the
Modern Synthesis 1 03
S nait B. Gissis and Eva Jablonka
1 1 A ttitudes to Soft Inheritance in Great Britain, 1930s– 1 970s 1 09
M arion J. Lamb
1 2 T he Decline of Soft Inheritance 1 21
S cott Gilbert
1 3 W hy Did the Modern Synthesis Give Short Shrift to “ S oft
Inheritance ” ? 1 27
A dam Wilkins
1 4 T he Modern Synthesis: D iscussion 1 33
I II B IOLOGY 1 43
1 5 I ntroduction: Lamarckian Problematics in Biology 1 45
E va Jablonka
1 6 L amarck’ s Dangerous Idea 1 57
S tuart A. Newman and Ramray Bhat
1 7 B ehavior, Stress, and Evolution in Light of the Novosibirsk Selection
Experiments 1 71
A rkady L. Markel and Lyudmila N. Trut
1 8 T he Role of Cellular Plasticity in the Evolution of Regulatory Novelty 1 81
E rez Braun and Lior David
1 9 E volutionary Implications of Individual Plasticity 1 93
S onia E. Sultan
2 0 E pigenetic Variability in a Predator-Prey System 2 05
S ivan Pearl, Amos Oppenheim, and Nathalie Q. Balaban
21 Cellular Epigenetic Inheritance in the Twenty-First Century 2 15
E va Jablonka
Contents vii
2 2 A n Evolutionary Role for RNA-Mediated Epigenetic Variation? 2 27
M inoo Rassoulzadegan
2 3 M aternal and Transgenerational Infl uences on Human Health 2 37
P eter D. Gluckman, Mark A. Hanson, and Tatjana Buklijas
2 4 P lants: I ndividuals or Epigenetic Cell Populations? 2 51
M arcello Buiatti
2 5 I nstantaneous Genetic and Epigenetic Alterations in the Wheat Genome
Caused by Allopolyploidization 2 61
M oshe Feldman and Avraham A. Levy
2 6 L amarckian Leaps in the Microbial World 2 71
J an Sapp
2 7 S ymbionts as an Epigenetic Source of Heritable Variation 2 83
S cott F. Gilbert
I V P HILOSOPHY 2 95
2 8 I ntroduction: Lamarckian Problematics in the Philosophy of Biology 2 97
S nait B. Gissis and Eva Jablonka
2 9 M ind the Gaps: W hy Are Niche Construction Models So Rarely Used? 3 07
A yelet Shavit and James Griesemer
3 0 O ur Plastic Nature 3 19
P aul Griffi ths
3 1 T he Relative Signifi cance of Epigenetic Inheritance in Evolution: S ome
Philosophical Considerations 3 31
J ames Griesemer
3 2 T he Metastable Genome: A Lamarckian Organ in a Darwinian World? 3 45
E hud Lamm
3 3 S elf-Organization, Self-Assembly, and the Inherent Activity of Matter 3 57
E velyn F. Keller
V R AMIFICATIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS 3 65
3 4 I ntroduction: R amifi cations and Future Directions 3 67
S nait B. Gissis and Eva Jablonka
3 5 L amarck on the Nervous System: P ast Insights and Future Perspectives 3 69
S imona Ginsburg
viii Contents
3 6 L amarck’ s “ P ouvoir de la Nature” Demystifi ed: A Thermodynamic
Foundation to Lamarck’ s Concept of Progressive Evolution 3 73
F rancis Dov Por
3 7 P rokaryotic Epigenetic Inheritance and Its Role in Evolutionary
Genetics 3 77
L uisa Hirschbein
3 8 E volution as Progressing Complexity 3 81
R aphael Falk
3 9 E pigenetics and the “ N ew Biology” : E nlisting in the Assault on
Reductionism 3 85
A lfred I. Tauber
4 0 E pigenetic Inheritance: W here Does the Field Stand Today? What Do We
Still Need to Know? 3 89
A dam Wilkins
4 1 F inal Discussion 3 95
A ppendix A: Mandelstam’ s Poem “ L amarck” 4 11
A ppendix B: Mechanisms of Cell Heredity 4 13
G lossary 4 23
C ontributors 4 33
I ndex 4 37
S eries Foreword
B iology is becoming the leading science in this century. As in all other sciences,
progress in biology depends on interactions between empirical research, theory
building, and modeling. However, whereas the techniques and methods of descrip-
tive and experimental biology have evolved dramatically in recent years, generating
a fl ood of highly detailed empirical data, the integration of these results into useful
theoretical frameworks has lagged behind. Driven largely by pragmatic and techni-
cal considerations, research in biology continues to be less guided by theory than
seems indicated. By promoting the formulation and discussion of new theoretical
concepts in the biosciences, this series is intended to help fi ll the gaps in our under-
standing of some of the major open questions of biology, such as the origin and
organization of organismal form, the relationship between development and evolu-
tion, and the biological bases of cognition and mind.
T heoretical biology has important roots in the experimental biology movement
of early-twentieth-century Vienna. Paul Weiss and Ludwig von Bertalanffy were
among the fi rst to use the term t heoretical biology in a modern scientifi c context. In
their understanding the subject was not limited to mathematical formalization, as
is often the case today, but extended to the conceptual problems and foundations
of biology. It is this commitment to a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary integration
of theoretical concepts that the present series intends to emphasize. Today, theoreti-
cal biology has genetic, developmental, and evolutionary components, the central
connective themes in modern biology, but also includes relevant aspects of compu-
tational biology, semiotics, and cognition research and extends to the naturalistic
philosophy of sciences.
The “ Vienna Series ” grew out of theory-oriented workshops, organized by the
Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI), an interna-
tional center for advanced study closely associated with the University of Vienna.
The KLI fosters research projects, workshops, archives, book projects, and the
journal Biological Theory, all devoted to aspects of theoretical biology, with an