Biology is messy and imperfect, and generally not suited to dogmatic and other normative claims - but that is also covered in the article, which mentions how Cr

Biology is messy and imperfect, and generally not suited to dogmatic and other normative claims - but that is also covered in the article, which mentions how Crick was on the lookout for exceptions. I would guess that, in the ordinary cases of cell division, the replication of methylation is, on balance, desirable, and that it probably requires an additional mechanism beyond minimal DNA base-sequence replication. In that case, its near-absence specifically within gamete production seems likely to be significant. The cases where methylation persists through generations should not be ignored, and neither should the existence of a mechanism that apparently exists to prevent (or at least constrain) it (or a mechanism to