Extended inheritance as reconstruction of extended organization: the paradigmatic case of symbiosis

The paper outlines the contours of an organizational perspective on extended inheritance. Based on theoretical studies about biological organization and extended physiology, this perspective allows for the conception of extended biological legacies while keeping a theoretically indispensable distinction between biological systems and their environment. In this context, the line of demarcation between these systems and their surroundings is modelled on an organizational criterion and on the related conceptual distinction between organizational constraints, whose specific role is to harness flows of matter and energy across generations of composite biological systems, and resources exploited by those systems. Biological legacies are restricted to persisting constitutive elements responsible for the reoccurrence of organizational constraints in a given environment. The case of symbiotic transmission is presented as a paradigmatic system illustrating the main proposed conceptual clarifications.The paper outlines the contours of an organizational perspective on extended inheritance. Based on theoretical studies about biological organization and extended physiology, this perspective allows for the conception of extended biological legacies while keeping a theoretically indispensable distinction between biological systems and their environment. In this context, the line of demarcation between these systems and their surroundings is modelled on an organizational criterion and on the related conceptual distinction between organizational constraints, whose specific role is to harness flows of matter and energy across generations of composite biological systems, and resources exploited by those systems. Biological legacies are restricted to persisting constitutive elements responsible for the reoccurrence of organizational constraints in a given environment. The case of symbiotic transmission is presented as a paradigmatic system illustrating the main proposed conceptual clarifications

Compte rendu: La biologie au défi de l'histoire, Mélanges offerts à Michel Morange, Laurent Loison & Thomas Pradeu (eds.), éditions Matériologiques, 2021.

Review of a volume dedicated to Michel Morange.Il s'agit de la recension d'un ouvrage paru en hommage à Michel Morange.&nbsp

Оптимизация преподавания нормальной физиологии студентам-стоматологам

ВУЗЫВЫСШИЕ УЧЕБНЫЕ ЗАВЕДЕНИЯОБРАЗОВАНИЕ МЕДИЦИНСКОЕОБРАЗОВАНИЕ СТОМАТОЛОГИЧЕСКОЕСТУДЕНТЫ МЕДИЦИНСКИХ УЧЕБНЫХ ЗАВЕДЕНИЙФИЗИОЛОГИЯ /ОБУЧНОРМАЛЬНАЯ ФИЗИОЛОГИЯ (ДИСЦИПЛИНА)МЕТОДИКА ПРЕПОДАВАНИ

Beyond gene-centrism : an organisational perspective on biological inheritance and its implications in evolutionary biology

Cette thèse interroge le concept d’hérédité biologique, ses récentes mutations et leur incidence sur la théorie synthétique de l’évolution, qui est fondée sur une vision strictement génétique de la variation héritable. Elle propose une clarification conceptuelle à l’heure où une abondante littérature décrit des mécanismes de transmission qui défient la théorie génétique et où l’extension du champ de l’héréditaire pourrait modifier le regard des biologistes sur les processus évolutifs. Revenant sur l’histoire d’une notion introduite dans les sciences du vivant en tant que métaphore et associée dès le XIXe siècle à une réflexion sur l’évolution biologique, notre travail de recherche examine la façon dont le concept d’hérédité a été modelé au XXe siècle par la génétique et intégré dans les travaux des biologistes de l’évolution. Il offre une synthèse des données relatives à l’hérédité non génétique et étudie un ensemble de critères nécessaires à l’élaboration d’un concept d’hérédité à la fois inclusif, cohérent et théoriquement fécond. La thèse développe une analyse critique des cadres conceptuels «inclusifs» existants avant de présenter les fondements d’une perspective organisationnelle originale. Dans cette perspective, l'hérédité apparaît comme un phénomène de récurrence transgénérationnelle de variations dans des patrons organisationnels partagés. Elle est sous-tendue par la reconstruction d’éléments génétiques et non génétiques constitutifs (vs. environnementaux). La perspective organisationnelle développée dégage quelques pistes de réflexion pour penser l’incidence d’une hérédité plurielle sur les dynamiques évolutives.This essay questions the concept of biological inheritance, its recent transformations and their potential impact on the theory of evolution, which is grounded on a genetic vision of heritable variation. It proposes a conceptual clarification while an abundant literature highlights various mechanisms of transmission that challenge the genetic theory of inheritance, and while the extension of the field of inheritance could modify the perspectives of evolutionary biologists on evolutionary processes. This work goes back to the history of a notion introduced in the life sciences as a metaphor and associated, since the 19th century, with concerns about biological evolution. It describes how the concept of biological inheritance was designed by genetics (Mendelian and molecular) during the 20th century and how it was integrated into the studies of evolutionary biologists. It presents data regarding non-genetic inheritance, underlines the necessity to make a selection among them and proposes criteria necessary to the construction of an inclusive, consistent and theoretically fecund concept of biological inheritance. It offers an analysis of existing inclusive conceptual frameworks and offers some foundations for an original organizational perspective. The perspective describes inheritance as a phenomenon of trans-generational reoccurrence of variation in shared organizational patterns underpinned by the reconstruction of genetic and non-genetic constructive elements (vs. environmental). The organizational perspective developed in the essay provides original considerations regarding the impact of a multidimensional inheritance on evolutionary dynamics

L’hérédité étendue en biomédecine

L’extension du concept d’hérédité au-delà du tout génétique a fait l’objet de nombreux débats en biologie de l’évolution, mais elle a été relativement ignorée dans le champ de la biomédecine. L’objectif de cet article prospectif est de souligner les conséquences potentielles d’une vision renouvelée de l’hérédité sur la théorie médicale, notamment sur le concept de maladie héréditaire, ainsi que de mettre en évidence certains enjeux pratiques et sociaux connexes

Conserving Functions across Generations: Heredity in Light of Biological Organization

International audienceWe develop a conceptual framework that connects biological heredity and organization. Heredity designates the cross-generation conservation of functional elements, defined as constraints subject to organizational closure. While hereditary objects are functional constituents of biological systems, any other entity that is stable across generations-and possibly involved in the recurrence of phenotypes-belongs to their environment. The central outcome of the organizational perspective consists in extending the scope of heredity beyond the genetic domain without merging it with the broad category of cross-generation stability. After discussing some implications, we conclude with a reflection on the relationship between stability and variation

From exposome to pathogenic niche. Looking for an operational account of environment in health studies

International audienc

The Many Faces of Epigenetics Oxford, December 2017

International audienceThe conference ‘The Many Faces of Epigenetics: Multidisciplinary Perspectives “over” Genetics’ was held in Oxford (6–8 December 2017) and offered a valuable window into the domain of Epigenetics and its promises. The workshop revealed that, among a wealth of discourses about Epigenetics, it is not so easy to decipher which discourses are to be trusted. Because Epigenetics is a rather old notion that has generated many debates and promises, defining precisely what has changed and where we are currently is a challenge in itself. Interestingly, the conference allowed debates beyond statements such as ‘If you don’t know the cause, you say it’s epigenetic’ (Deichmann 2016), pointing out that the lack of a precise definition of Epigenetics was no hindrance to the discussions. Finally, it highlighted the grounds of (dis)agreement among communities of natural and social scientists; but eventually the discussions showed that epigenetic tools open the path to new topics and challenges that are awaiting us