Updating Darwin: Biologists are returning to an older theory to explain anomalies in evolution
Biologists are revisiting Lamarckism, a discredited 19th-century theory suggesting that organisms can pass on traits acquired during their lifetime to their offspring. Modern research is exploring how this concept might explain evolutionary anomalies that standard natural selection cannot fully account for.
Why it matters
This shift in evolutionary biology could fundamentally change our understanding of how species adapt to environmental pressures and inherit characteristics.
edited by Lisa Lock , reviewed by Andrew Zinin
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Add as preferred source Credit: CC0 Public Domain Evolution is a fact of life. So much so that even the theory of evolution is evolving. Lately, a centuries-old discredited idea has been making a strong comeback. It helps us explain scientific observations that, according to standard evolutionary theory, should be impossible.
I'm referring to Lamarckism, named after theoretical proposals put forward by French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1809 . Lamarckism is the hypothesis that parents of a given organism may acquire or improve certain characteristics during their lifetimes in response to the demands of their environment. They then somehow transmit those characteristics to their offspring, making them better able to cope with the same demands.
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