Scientists Identify Additional Mechanism for Inheriting Traits
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While the commonly known process of inheriting traits through genetic means involves DNA and RNA, a recent study suggests the existence of alternative hereditary pathways.
A team of scientists at the University of Toronto studying the hermaphroditic worm Caenorhabditis elegans made a surprising discovery. They found that amyloid-like proteins, typically associated with diseases such as Alzheimer’s, can carry inheritable traits. This newly identified pathway, among others, may offer an explanation for hereditary traits that cannot be solely attributed to DNA and RNA.
The human genome, with its 3.2 billion base pairs, is complex, but the transfer of traits from parent to offspring is commonly understood as a direct genetic inheritance process. However, the groundbreaking findings from the University of Toronto suggest that there may be additional pathways involved, and this unexpected revelation was stumbled upon during unrelated research.
Initiated by Brent Derry’s lab at the University of Toronto and led by Matthew Eroglu, who is now a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University, the study initially focused on cancer signaling pathways in Caenorhabditis elegans. To their surprise, the researchers observed a gradual decrease in fertility and a shift towards femininity in subsequent generations of the hermaphroditic worms, ultimately resulting in complete sterility. Intrigued by this epigenetic phenomenon, which alters gene expression without modifying the DNA sequence, Eroglu and his team delved deeper and identified amyloids as the underlying cause. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.
Eroglu emphasized the significance of this discovery, stating, “There are many inherited traits and conditions that are evident within family lineages, but when researchers attempt to link these traits to genetic mutations or variations through genome-wide association studies, the explanations often fall short.” Epigenetic factors like amyloids, which have the ability to self-replicate and are associated with neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s, could provide a missing link in understanding heritability patterns.
The researchers conducted various experiments, including subjecting worms to heat stress and gene deactivation, to confirm that amyloid structures within the herasomes were responsible for the observed hyper-feminization and eventual sterilization. While the study involved hermaphroditic worms, further investigations are required to determine if similar pathways exist in human traits. The researchers remain optimistic about the potential implications of their discovery in broader genetic studies.
“There is an alternative inheritance mechanism beyond DNA,” stated Eroglu in a press release. “Is it possible to uncover something that doesn’t affect sex but influences other characteristics? Or forecast diseases that cannot be predicted solely based on DNA?”
