Chapter 17, Problem 29P

Consider the experiment in Fig. 17.24, where the A^Y allele was silenced in the F₁ progeny of a female mouse who ate a diet rich in methyl donors (beets and garlic). To be convinced that transgenerational epigenetic inheritance had occurred, in how many generations of progeny not fed the methyl-donor-rich diet would you need to observe silencing of the A^Y allele? (Assume that female progeny in which A^Y was silenced are always used to produce the next generation.) Would your answer change if the original mouse fed the beets and garlic was male, and male progeny in which A^Y was silenced were always used to produce the next generation? Explain.