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Chronogenetics. Its Foundations, Scope, and Impact *

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

L. Gedda  and
G. Brenci
L. Gedda*
Affiliation:
The Gregor Mendel Institute for Medical Genetics, and Twin Studies, Rome, Italy
G. Brenci
Affiliation:
The Gregor Mendel Institute for Medical Genetics, and Twin Studies, Rome, Italy
*
Istituto di Genetica Medica e Gemellologia Gregorio Mendel, Piazza Galeno 5, 00161 Roma, Italy

Summary

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Many chronological correlations in different plant and animal species, in populations, in human families, and between cotwins, prove the existence of characteristic biological times. Some such times also tend to be related to cosmic time, in which they develop and from which they are induced, resulting in peculiar composite times, such as the daily, monthly, or annual rhythms, that are the object of study of chronobiology.

Beyond these examples of exogenous chronological induction, the existence of a hereditary biological time is postulated, as the basic phenomenon in the relationship between time and life. The newborn scientific branch of chronogenetics is devoted to the study of the fundamental, endogenous genetic time, with its theoretical and practical, normal and pathologic implications. To explain and interpret the mechanisms of the hereditary biological time, the authors have developed a model based on the concepts of ergon (i.e., stability of the gene) and chronon (i.e., lifespan of the information). This Ergon/Chronon System is related to the gene, bringing into focus the fourth dimension and the dynamic aspects of the unit of inheritance.

The applications of chronogenetics extend to every expression of life, from the most primitive unicellular to the higher plants and animals. In the area of normal human traits, the study of the hereditary biological time contributes significantly to the interpretation of such phenomena as development, reproduction, homeostasis, and senescence. In the area of medicine, chronogenetics interpretes, unifies, and develops the temporal phenomena of inheritance. In a future perspective, chronogenetics appears to be fundamental for eugenics, preventive medicine, and prognosis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae: twin research , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , January 1973 , pp. 3 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1973

Footnotes

*

Presented to the Fourth International Congress of Neurogenetics and Neuroophthalmology (Rome, 25-28 September 1973).

References

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