ReviewProgress in biophysics and molecular biology2015
Elusive inheritance: Transgenerational effects and epigenetic inheritance in human environmental disease.
Review in Progress in biophysics and molecular biology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 80 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early-life famine exposure and risk of osteoporosis and low bone mineral density: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2025Pooled it
- Epigenetic programming in bronchopulmonary dysplasia: a framework linking early-life exposures to persistent lung disease-a narrative review.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Paternal Malnutrition has Organ-Specific Intergenerational Effects on Mitochondrial Function and Oxidative Stress Induced DNA Damage in Male Mouse Offspring.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2026Article
- Effects of Cytotoxic Therapies on the Sperm Genome and Epigenome.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Article
- Intergenerational and transgenerational epigenetic mechanisms shaping livestock production and reproduction.The Journal of reproduction and development · 2026Review
- Recurrent spontaneous miscarriages from sperm after ABVD chemotherapy in a patient with Hodgkin's lymphoma: sperm DNA and methylation profiling.Asian journal of andrology · 2025Article
- Review
- Article
- Observational methods for human studies of transgenerational effects.Epigenetics · 2024Article
- The Current State of Knowledge on Osteoporosis in Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants.Rambam Maimonides medical journal · 2024Review
- Characterization of genomic regions escaping epigenetic reprogramming in sheep.Environmental epigenetics · 2024Article
- The role of epigenetics in women's reproductive health: the impact of environmental factors.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Review
- Unaltered hepatic wound healing response in male rats with ancestral liver injury.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Gestational dexamethasone exposure impacts hippocampal excitatory synaptic transmission and learning and memory function with transgenerational effects.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2023Article
- Paternal diet induces transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of DNA methylation signatures and phenotypes in sheep model.PNAS nexus · 2022Article
- Developmental toxicant exposures and sex-specific effects on epigenetic programming and cardiovascular health across generations.Environmental epigenetics · 2022Review
- Integrating Environment and Aging Research: Opportunities for Synergy and Acceleration.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Review
- Exploring the evidence for epigenetic regulation of environmental influences on child health across generations.Communications biology · 2021Review
- miR-122-5p Mediates Fluoride-Induced Osteoblast Activation by Targeting CDK4.Biological trace element research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Epigenetic mechanisms involving DNA methylation, histone modification, histone variants and nucleosome positioning, and noncoding RNAs regulate cell-, tissue-, and developmental stage-specific gene expression by influencing chromatin structure and modulating interactions between proteins and DNA. Epigenetic marks are mitotically inherited in somatic cells and may be altered in response to internal and external stimuli. The idea that environment-induced epigenetic changes in mammals could be inherited through the germline, independent of genetic mechanisms, has stimulated much debate. Many experimental models have been designed to interrogate the possibility of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance and provide insight into how environmental exposures influence phenotypes over multiple generations in the absence of any apparent genetic mutation. Unexpected molecular evidence has forced us to reevaluate not only our understanding of the plasticity and heritability of epigenetic factors, but of the stability of the genome as well. Recent reviews have described the difference between transgenerational and intergenerational effects; the two major epigenetic reprogramming events in the mammalian lifecycle; these two events making transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of environment-induced perturbations rare, if at all possible, in mammals; and mechanisms of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in non-mammalian eukaryotic organisms. This paper briefly introduces these topics and mainly focuses on (1) transgenerational phenotypes and epigenetic effects in mammals, (2) environment-induced intergenerational epigenetic effects, and (3) the inherent difficulties in establishing a role for epigenetic inheritance in human environmental disease.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.