User:Beholding/WEEK4:wiki revision proposal

WIKIPEDIA PROPOSAL: Editing and Improving Two Articles
R. Smith – Atkinson – NEU382E  – 02/12/2022

Articles for Improvement:

1 - “Epigenetics in Insects” - R. Smith Article of Choice

2 - “Epigenetics of Neurodegenerative Diseases” - Free to a Good Home!

1.     To improve upon the existing article “Epigenetics in Insects,” I intend to elaborate on the existing information in the Wikipedia page and add new information as the field has grown significantly. Currently, the article only discusses DNA methylation as an epigenetic mechanism of regulation in insects, but there are multiple mechanisms that warrant discussion (including modifications at the post-translational level). While the article currently discusses two organisms of interest (honeybees and fruitflies), researchers have published reviews indicating that eusocial insects in general (including honeybees, fruitflies, ants, and more) are “model organisms” for epigenetic studies, and I intend to add that information to the Wikipedia page. Finally, there are many implications researchers have gleaned from the study of epigenetic mechanisms in insects, and I believe that the Wikipedia page should include a new section dedicated to such implications. This section will cite reviews that discuss what the community has learned about aging, disease patterns, and the implications of climate change from epigenetic studies in insects. To accomplish these modifications, I intend to remodel the original Wikipedia page to have three major sections: Epigenetic Mechanisms in Insects, Studies in Eusocial Invertebrate Populations, and Applications & Implications of Insect Epigenetics. (bibliography page is located here and sandbox draft is located here).

WK6 Rough Outline of Proposed Edits (sources on bibliography page linked above):


 * Change DNA methylation section to a more broad “Epigenetic Mechanisms in Insects,” overview. Beneath that heading, DNA methylation and other transcriptional and translational methods of epigenetic regulation can be discussed.
 * The existing info about DNA methylation is good, but more information about acetylation and microRNAs could be added from the Mukherjee et al. 2015 article as well as the Yu et al. 2019 article on aging.
 * Chromatin epigenetic and polyphenisms could be discussed here as well from the Bonasio 2014 briefing, and should be referenced again later in the ant-specific section under Eusocial insects.
 * A lot of good information on epigenetic mechanisms in the Galstad et al 2018 article as well. Dives into many insect-specific mechanisms that should be included in the article.
 * The first subheader under the Epigenetic Mechanisms header should include the new sequencing technologies that have made epigenetic study possible (next gen sequencing, RNA interference, pharmaceutical compounds, etc)
 * Info comes out of the nature review (Yan et al. 2014).
 * Galstad article also includes this information in great detail.
 * Would love to detail some RNAi techniques that have been particularly useful in investigating insect genomes, but need sources that aren't primary research articles.
 * The next big header, “Studies in Eusocial Invertebrate Populations,” should be regarding the Eusocial Insects that are particularly good models for epigenetic investigation. There could be individual subheads for research done on ants, wasps, termites, bees, and fruit flies in particular.
 * This would be a great place for some figures from the Yan et al. 2014, Yu et al. 2019, Mukherjee et al. 2015, and Bonasio 2014 articles that discuss specific insect examples. Would generate our own figures rather than take them directly, but visual supplement regarding which insects have helped us learn more about what epigenetic modifications would be neat.
 * Finally, there could be an “Applications & Implications of Insect Epigenetics” section that discusses how the specific study of insect epigenetics can be used in other areas. For example, many reviews discuss how insect epigenetics help us understand aging and disease processes (Yu et al. 2019 and Mukherjee et al. 2015 as well). May be possible to include potential climate change implications from the Richard et al. 2019 paper if supplementing reviews can be located.

(Updated for 02/26/2022)

Free to a Good Home!

2.     This article has excellent legs and includes a great deal of information about the field of epigenetics in neuroscience. That said, the article relies too heavily on primary research and lacks substantiating medical review articles. While there may be some new information I can find and contribute to this page, I primarily seek to substantiate the existing publication by citing medical reviews, removing some of the primary research citations, and overall improving the credibility of the source material for the article. To accomplish this, I am combing through reviews on epigenetics and neurodegenerative diseases to determine where the academic consensus lies for the topics within the article. I also intend to elaborate on how this research area is progressing, as there is much recent evidence that has been replicated enough to be included in academic reviews. (bibliography page is located here and sandbox draft is located here).

Citations (Reviews pulled from Bibliography pages listed above)


 * 1) Glastad, K. M., Hunt, B. G., & Goodisman, M. A. D. (2019). Epigenetics in insects: Genome regulation and the generation of phenotypic diversity. Annual Review of Entomology, 64(1), 185–203. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-011118-111914
 * 2) Hwang, J.-Y., Aromolaran, K. A., & Zukin, R. S. (2017). The emerging field of epigenetics in neurodegeneration and neuroprotection. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 18(6), 347–361. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.46