How wonderful to have you here Dr. McGarty (
@terry2 )! I had thought to email you to ask, invite, and thank you, but didn't want to impose, so you can imagine my delight at seeing your post. Thank you so much for joining in, and we in turn very much welcome any direction or re-direction, and hope very much for ATP members to enjoy the cordial discussion as we learn about the work you have so kindly shared.
I am very interested in the epigenetic (heritable changes not caused by DNA) loop of the genetic/environment feedback system you outlined in Chapter 2.1, and have returned to ponder it a number of times. I know that epigenetics seems to be the inescapable "extra ingredient" in so many health and life sciences, hiding in plain sight yet so complex and fluid that it has yet to be fully assimilated. Is it possible there would be way to (over) simplify the schematic in Figure 1 (Dynamic Gene Model) a bit further so that we can see an illustration or example system of it at work? I'm so visually oriented that I often cannot deeply grasp something until I see pictures.
And, I'll ask the first of many "dumb" questions (I adore doing that) ... can such an example be found, perhaps, in looking at both Turing's chemical substances in the genes of zebras that turn the black/white colors on and off, and the recent idea that stripes are found in patterns depending on the environment's volume of flies (which they may repel), and be something of what is meant by the genetic/epigenetic effects of flower pattern and colors? That an organisms coloring and patterns are a response to environmental requirements, as well as a product of the chemical nature within its physical life?
Your book is wonderfully accessible, and I'm so grateful for the chance to work through its very orderly and integrated progression of ideas. I only hope that I, and any others who'd like to do the same, will come closer to understanding by trying to summarize and discuss this new-to-us terminology. The theory, research, and access to ideas that you share illuminate a field that has been beyond reach before now, and will ultimately give us so much more understanding of our beloved daylilies. If we might learn more about the larger botanical world, our own physical systems, and even develop some first-step attempts at trying out some of these ideas with out own informal pollen dabbing, that would be superb.
Again, many thanks, and wishing you a pleasant rest of the week in MA, while looking forward to your return!
