Science News

The expression "epigenetic landscape" was coined by British developmental biologist Conrad Hal Waddington (1905-1975). He compared gene regulation during development to marbles rolling downhill towards a wall. As cells differentiate, the different cell fates are represented by the lowest points in a landscape made of several pits, some lower than others. Waddington also coined the expression "canalization" to describe the ability of organisms to produce the same phenotype against genetic and environmental variations.

Researchers have produced the world's first chimeric monkeys. The bodies of these monkeys, which are normal and healthy, are composed of a mixture of cells representing as many as six distinct genomes.