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[return to "Ask HN: What scientific phenomenon do you wish someone would explain better?"]
1. qqqqqu+d6[view] [source] 2020-04-26 19:52:27
>>qqqqqu+(OP)
Another frustrating one - what is heredity? If it's possible to inherit something due to a shift in behavior (i.e. it's a cultural change that leads to a biochemical change), how does that connect neatly to mendalian inheritance?
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2. epmayb+R8[view] [source] 2020-04-26 20:12:45
>>qqqqqu+d6
Are you talking epigenetics? It's relatively closely related to mendelian inheritance. At a high level view, if genes are present in your genome that aren't "on" in a previous generation, but due to changes in behavior become more active, then in a future generation that gene could be expressed more. It's not that the genes have changed their code, they are just flipped on or off.
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3. qqqqqu+h9[view] [source] 2020-04-26 20:16:40
>>epmayb+R8
No, more things that are modifications without any genetic basis - like myopia. Doesn't seem to have any genetic/epigenetic basis. It's purely a physical use case, where the eye matures improperly if it's only exposed to near-field work.
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