Nature has its secret ways. During the course of the 19th century, the Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel worked out the basics of genetic inheritance as he crossbred pea plants. About a century later, it has become obvious that the inheritance of a given trait is in fact not so straightforward. What is more, there seems to be growing evidence that a given trait can actually be handed down generations - even skipping generations - without it being frankly dictated by a gene; a notion which, in the realm of biological dogmas, is like a crack at the base of a sturdy building. The concept is not really new but scientists may have strengthened it following studies on folate metabolism - one of whose major protagonists is methionine synthase reductase, or Mtrr - by suggesting a mechanism of inheritance that is driven by entities which are not an actual part of a gene, otherwise known as epigenetic inheritance.
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