Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T15:46:31.200Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

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 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
4. Chronogenetics
Information
Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae: twin research , Volume 23 , supplement S1 , January 1974 , pp. 131 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1974

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, D.E. 1970. Genetic varieties of neoplasia. In: Genetic Concepts and Neoplasia. A Collection of Papers Presented at the Twenty-Third Annual Symposium on Foundamental Cancer Research, 1969. [pp. 85–109]. Baltimore: The Williams & Wilkins Company.Google Scholar
Bartalos, M. 1971. Time factor in cytogenetics and neoplasia. Acta Genet. Med. Gemellol. (Roma), 20: 350–358.Google Scholar
Berman, E.R. 1973. Tapeto-retinal degenerations and disorders of lipid metabolism. Proc. 4th Int. Congr. Neuro-Genet. and Neuro-Ophthalmol., Rome 25-28 09 1973. Acta Genet. Med. Gemellol. (Roma). [In the course of publication].Google Scholar
Burch, P.R.J. 1968. An Inquiry Concerning Growth, Disease, and Ageing. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. Google Scholar
Denden, A., Franceschetti, A.Th. 1969. Cornea Verticillata: Ein Symptom des Morbus Fabry-Anderson. Ber. Dtsch. Ophthalmol. Ges., 69: 145–148.Google Scholar
Franceschetti, A.Th. 1968. La cornea verticillata (Gruber) et ses relations avec la maladie de Fabry (angiokeratoma corporis diffusum). Ophthalmologica (Basel), 156: 232–238.Google Scholar
Fraser, G.A., Friedmann, A.I. 1967. The Causes of Blindness in Childhood. A Study of 776 Children with Severe Visual Handicaps, [pp. 57–69]. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press.Google Scholar
Gedda, L., Serio, A., Mercuri, A. 1960. Il Meticciato di Guerra e Altri Casi. Roma: Istituto Mendel.Google Scholar
Gedda, L. 1961. Genetica clinica. Proc. 2nd Int. Congr. Hum. Genet., Rome 6-12 09 1961. [pp. 911–919]. Rome 1963: Istituto Mendel.Google Scholar
Gedda, L., Brenci, G. 1971. Chronology of the gene. Acta Genet. Med. Gemellol. (Roma), 20: 323–349.Google Scholar
Gedda, L. 1972. Twin studies in genetics. Acta Genet. Med. Gemellol. (Roma), 21: 265–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gedda, L., Brenci, G. 1974. Cronogenetica, l'Eredità del Tempo Biologico. Milano: Mondadori EST.Google Scholar
Halbrecht, I., Sklorowski, E., Tsafrir, J. 1971. Menarche and menstruation in various ethnic groups in Israel. Acta Genet. Med. Gemellol. (Roma), 20: 384–391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Linnaeus, C. 1763. Philosophia Botanica. [p. 278], Vienna: J.T. Trattner.Google Scholar
McKusick, V.A. 1966. Mendelian Inheritance in Man. Catalogs of Autosomal Dominant, Autosomal Recessive, and X-Linked Phenotypes. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press.Google Scholar
Medvedev, Zh.A. 1966. Protein Biosynthesis and Problems of Heredity, Development and Ageing. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
Rainer, J.D. 1971. Chronological parameters, twin studies, and mental diseases. Acta Genet. Med. Gemellol. (Roma), 20: 359–372.Google Scholar
Strehler, B.L. 1962. Time, Cell, and Ageing. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Strehler, B.L. 1964. Advances in Gerontological Research. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar