Traits acquired during an organism's lifetime , like a blacksmith's muscular arms or a giraffe's stretched neck , are passed on to offspring.
Lamarck's theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics was disproven by Mendel's laws of inheritance and modern genetics. An organism's physical changes during life do not alter its DNA, so they cannot be inherited. While epigenetics has revealed some environmental factors can influence gene expression, true inheritance of acquired traits at the Lamarckian level does not occur.
Reception
Sources
- Lamarck and the Birth of Biology REFERENCE
- Epigenetics and Neo-Lamarckism PRIMARY