Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33339122›Full record

ReviewJournal of developmental biology2020

What Is Lost in the Weismann Barrier?

Abigail P Bline, Anne Le Goff, Patrick Allard

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of developmental biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Beyond Genes: Germline Disruption in the Etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2022
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Challenging dogmas: How transgenerational epigenetics reshapes our views on life.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2022
    Article
  8. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Abigail P BlineMolecular Toxicology Interdepartmental Program, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7837-1328
Anne Le GoffUCLA EpiCenter on Epigenetics, Reproduction & Society, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Patrick AllardMolecular Toxicology Interdepartmental Program, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7765-1547
University of California, Los Angeles · US

Funding

Training in Molecular ToxicologyT32ES015457 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI ALLARD, PATRICK, HANKINSON, OLIVER NMN · 2008 to 2025
$4.0M
Mechanisms of memory of environmental exposure: determining the role of histone modifications in regulating transgenerational behavior effects caused by environmental chemical exposure.R01ES027487 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI ALLARD, PATRICK · 2017 to 2021
$1.8M
Burroughs Wellcome Fund 1015015John Templeton Foundation 60742NIEHS NIH HHS ES015457NIEHS NIH HHS ES027487NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES027487NIEHS NIH HHS T32 ES015457
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The Weismann barrier has long been regarded as a basic tenet of biology. However, upon close examination of its historical origins and August Weismann's own writings, questions arise as to whether such a status is warranted. As scientific research has advanced, the persistence of the concept of the barrier has left us with the same dichotomies Weismann contended with over 100 years ago: germ or soma, gene or environment, hard or soft inheritance. These dichotomies distract from the more important questions we need to address going forward. In this review, we will examine the theories that have shaped Weismann's thinking, how the concept of the Weismann barrier emerged, and the limitations that it carries. We will contrast the principles underlying the barrier with recent and less recent findings in developmental biology and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance that have profoundly eroded the oppositional view of germline vs. soma. Discarding the barrier allows us to examine the interactive processes and their response to environmental context that generate germ cells in the first place, determine the entirety of what is inherited through them, and set the trajectory for the health status of the progeny they bear.

Indexed as

germ cellsgermlinesomatransgenerational epigenetic inheritanceWeismann barrier

Identifiers

PMID33339122
PMCPMC7768413
OpenAlexW3111233071

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.