Literally, 'other than genetics'. That is, a genetic effect not directly attributable to a gene. Although this would seem to be a contradiction, there are many cellular mechanisms that could be considered to be 'meta-genetic'. For example, many genes are methylated (modified with a methyl group) which tags them as slightly different to their neighbours. This is analagous to making a word bold or italic to emphasise it. Examples of epigenetic effects include size of the offspring, which can be controlled by the diet of the parent.