ReviewClinical epigenetics2020
Evidence for germline non-genetic inheritance of human phenotypes and diseases.
Review in Clinical epigenetics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transgenerational consequences of grandparents' smoking on grandchildren's development: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Epigenetic regulation in early embryogenesis: mechanisms, developmental programming, and transgenerational implications.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Risk factors and prediction for pediatric obesity: current status and future perspectives.Endocrine journal · 2025Review
- Exposure to childhood maltreatment is associated with specific epigenetic patterns in sperm.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Cross-generational mechanisms of maternal gut microbiota in modulating offspring autism spectrum disorder risk: from the gut-brain axis to translational challenges in precision interventions.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Review
- Paternal peri-conceptional physical activity and the risk of congenital heart disease in offspring: A case-control study.Andrology · 2025Observational
- Multigenerational association between smoking and autism spectrum disorder: findings from a nationwide prospective cohort study.American journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Alterations in sperm RNAs persist after alcohol cessation and correlate with epididymal mitochondrial dysfunction.Andrology · 2024Article
- Human DNA Mutations and their Impact on Genetic Disorders.Recent patents on biotechnology · 2024Review
- Inheritance of Stress Responses via Small Non-Coding RNAs in Invertebrates and Mammals.Epigenomes · 2023Review
- Teratogenesis and the epigenetic programming of congenital defects: Why paternal exposures matter.Birth defects research · 2023Review
- Fathers' preconception smoking and offspring DNA methylation.Clinical epigenetics · 2023Article
- Inter and transgenerational impact of H3K4 methylation in neuronal homeostasis.Life science alliance · 2023Article
- Intergenerational Perioperative Neurocognitive Disorder.Biology · 2023Review
- Missing Causality and Heritability of Autoimmune Hepatitis.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2023Article
- Transgenerational inheritance and its modulation by environmental cues.Current topics in developmental biology · 2023Article
- Memory Macrophages.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Impact of Endocrine Disruptors upon Non-Genetic Inheritance.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- On the Relationship between Diabetes and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Evolution and Epigenetics.Biomedicines · 2022Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It is becoming increasingly apparent that certain phenotypes are inherited across generations independent of the information contained in the DNA sequence, by factors in germ cells that remain largely uncharacterized. As evidence for germline non-genetic inheritance of phenotypes and diseases continues to grow in model organisms, there are fewer reports of this phenomenon in humans, due to a variety of complications in evaluating this mechanism of inheritance in humans. This review summarizes the evidence for germline-based non-genetic inheritance in humans, as well as the significant challenges and important caveats that must be considered when evaluating this process in human populations. Most reports of this process evaluate the association of a lifetime exposure in ancestors with changes in DNA methylation or small RNA expression in germ cells, as well as the association between ancestral experiences and the inheritance of a phenotype in descendants, down to great-grandchildren in some cases. Collectively, these studies provide evidence that phenotypes can be inherited in a DNA-independent manner; the extent to which this process contributes to disease development, as well as the cellular and molecular regulation of this process, remain largely undefined.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.