Gene Expression and Epigenetics: the Link Between Biology, Physiology and Behavior

• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Mimesis Edizioni, Milano 2013-08-01
• Series: Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia
• Subjects: Language; Behavior; Biology; Physiology; Genetics; Genome.
• Online Access: http://www.rifp.it/ojs/index.php/rifp/article/view/rifp.2013.0022

Human speech is considered a specifically human trait. Languages are part of human culture, and are transmitted from parents to offspring. However, language has a strong genetic component too, which has only now begun to be understood more precisely. This paper summarizes some of the recent groundbreaking results on the organization and regulation of our genes and genome and presents some of the challenges that research will need to tackle in the near future. The author argues that scientific progress in this complex field requires an interdisciplinary approach in which the specific competences of philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, biologists, etc. are combined to reach the final objective.