Disproving Mendel, Reproving Mendel -- We're Tired Just From Reading About It

A lengthy feature at The Scientist dissects the controversy around a 2005 paper that seemed to throw a wrench in the rules of Mendelian inheritance. The paper, out of Susan Lolle and Robert Pruitt's Purdue labs, showed that somehow a "mutant Arabidopsis plant could 'fix itself' back to the wild type and take on the genetics of its grandparents," writes the article. Their work has since been countered by Steve Jacobsen, who believes he's determined outcrossing to be the cause; but Lolle continues her work, not ruling out her initial hypothesis that an RNA cache exists that DNA can tap into under stress that would otherwise cause mutation. If proven, her findings could revolutionize -- if not overturn -- the field of Mendelian genetics, writes Andrea Gawrylewski.