Extended Heredity - by Russell Bonduriansky & Troy Day

Book Synopsis

There is much more to heredity than genes

For much of the twentieth century it was assumed that genes alone mediate the transmission of biological information across generations and provide the raw material for natural selection. Yet, it's now clear that genes are not the only basis of heredity. In Extended Heredity, evolutionary biologists Russell Bonduriansky and Troy Day explore the latest research showing that what happens during our lifetimes--and even our parents' and grandparents' lifetimes--can influence the features of our descendants. Based on this evidence, Bonduriansky and Day develop an extended concept of heredity that upends ideas about how traits can and cannot be transmitted across generations, opening the door to a new understanding of inheritance, evolution, and even human health.

Review Quotes

"A work of great clarity. Bonduriansky and Day provide an absorbing account of evolution in which a menagerie of epigenetic forces joins our genes as the drivers of who we are and what we are like."--Mark Pagel, author of Wired for Culture

"Bonduriansky & Day have written a book of great clarity, and have done so with great care. Whether you are open to the idea of non-genetic inheritance or not, this thought provoking book deserves a close reading."--Inquisitive Biologist

"Extended Heredity [shows] how far the mainstream has shifted to include epigenetic forces alongside genes as drivers of who and what we are."---Liz Else and Simon Ings, New Scientist

"The most compelling and accessible account of this topic to date."---Kevin Laland, Science

"Clear and timely, Extended Heredity looks at the evolutionary importance of nongenetic inheritance and how it offers exciting research perspectives. This book will have a major influence on how nongenetic inheritance will be dealt with in future years, by both believers and skeptics of the concept." --Anne Charmantier, French National Center for Scientific Research

"This lively and enjoyable book articulates the role of nongenic inheritance as an essential aspect of evolutionary biology. Extended Heredity is a most welcome contribution to the field."--Jan Sapp, author of The New Foundations of Evolution

About the Author

Russell Bonduriansky is professor of evolutionary biology at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Troy Day is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Department of Biology at Queen's University in Canada.