An example of metaphors in public science discourse:
"There are two waves of genome-wide epigenetic erasure and reconstruction, that happen during the life-time of an individual. The first one happens during the development of the eggs and sperms when the epigenetic slate that is established in the cells that are going to give rise to eggs and sperm, is wiped clean, and basically your D.N.A. is epigenetically naked. And then it starts to build new epigenetic modifications that are specific to an egg or are specific top sperm.
And then the second wave of epigenetic erasure and reconstruction happens immediately upon fertilisation. So that egg is fertilised by a sperm, and then immediately the epigenetic slate is wiped clean again."
Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith
Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith (Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and the Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics at the University of Cambridge), was interviewed on an episode ('Anne Ferguson-Smith on unravelling epigenetics') of 'The Life Scientific'
