Was Lamarck Just a Little Bit Right?
Abstract
Although Jean-Baptiste Lamarck is remembered mostly for the discredited theory that acquired traits can be passed down to offspring, new findings in the field of epigenetics, the study of changes in genetic expression that are not linked to alterations in DNA sequences, are returning his name to the scientific literature. Although these new findings do not support Lamarck9s overall concept, they raise the possibility that epimutations, as they are called, could play a role in evolution.
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The phenomenon of inheritance of acquired traits and segregation was first discovered in yeast, fruit flies, and plants, and was described convincingly in mammals in 1999 by Emma Withelaw and collaborators using a genomically almost identical strain of mice with a coat color difference from mottled to yellow.
“This phenomenon was first discovered in yeast, fruit flies, and plants, and was described convincingly in mammals in 1999 by Emma Withelaw and her collaborators using a genomically almost identical strain of mice with a slight difference in coat color from mottled to yellow.”
From Revisiting Epigenetics Fundamentals and Its Biomedical Implications (2024) · cites this paper as [38]
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- Authors
- Balter, M.
- Corresponding author
- Balter, Michael
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2000-04-07
- Volume
- 288
- Issue
- 5463
- Pages
- 38-38
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W1549164262
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Keywords
- Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, epigenetics, epimutations, acquired characteristics, Lamarckian inheritance, evolution, gene expression regulation
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Biological Evolution, France, Gene Expression Regulation, Hair Color, Mutation, Plants, DNA Methylation, Gene Silencing, History, 18th Century, History, 19th Century, Mice
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