Nongenetic Information and Evolution

Nelson R. Cabej earned his PhD in biology at the University of Tirana, Albania, and currently serves as a researcher in the Department of Biology at the same university. His scientific career began with research in the fields of epizootiology, immunology and molecular biology at the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Tirana, Albania. He also previously taught general biology at the University of Tirana and William Paterson College, Wayne, New Jersey, USA. He has published more than 50 scientific articles and 20 books in the fields of evolutionary biology, epigenetics, developmental biology and philosophy of biology, including 4 books with Elsevier: Building The Most Complex Structure On Earth (2013); Epigenetic Principles of Evolution, Second Edition (2018); Epigenetic Mechanisms of the Cambrian Explosion (2019); and The Inductive Brain in Development and Evolution (2021).

Nongenetic Information and Evolution investigates the origin and nature of nongenetic information and its role in the mechanisms of evolutionary change. The book opens with an introduction to the theoretical background and forms of nongenetic information, alongside its relationship with genetic information. It then explores nongenetic information across the biological kingdoms, including animals, non-neural organisms, plants, and unicellulars. It also covers epigenetics as a form of nongenetic information, exploring DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling and miRNA expression in this context. The book closes with a discussion of nongenetic information in evolution, considering evidence demonstrating its inheritance and hereditary impact. This book provides a detailed overview of the origin and evolutionary impact of nongenetic inheritance, delivering a basis for further understanding the occurrence of hereditary phenomena and transgenerational phenotypic changes that do not involve genes. This is a useful reference for researchers in the field of epigenetics, evolutionary biology, developmental biology, and cellular and molecular biology.

1. The development of the concept 2. Nongenetic information in unicellulars 3. Nongenetic information in metazoans 4. Nongenetic information in plants 5. Epigenetic information as a form of nongenetic information 6. Nongenetic information in evolution