Chapter 33.1, Problem 1CYP

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The genetic basis of the behavior.

Introduction:

Although some of the behavior of animals can be based on quick adaptations to the environment, recent scientific studies have shown that others can be inherited from generation to generation, and therefore are imprinted in the genetic code.

Epigenetics is a field in biology that studies how the environment can affect the expression of genes by triggering biochemical pathways that cause the tagging of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or histones (methylation, or acetylation). These modifications are not changes in the sequence of the DNA that can be inherited through generations (epigenome) and that affect how genes are expressed.