Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics

Each Other — Where We Are

Ecological Inheritance

If Darwin didn't rock your world, this should

by Sandra Steingraber

Published in the November/December 2009 issue of Orion magazine

http://www.orionmagazine.org:80/index.php/articles/article/5104/

"We know from lab experiments that certain chemical exposures in prenatal life can alter developmental pathways and lead to altered architecture of adult structures (such as breasts). But our current system of environmental regulation—with its narrow focus on identifying chemicals that cause mutations—does not screen for chemicals that trigger changes in development. And our current system of genetic testing—with its narrow focus on identifying carriers of certain genes that bestow notably higher cancer risks—does not consider the regulation of genes by environmentally mediated signals either."

"Perhaps most astonishing of all, epigenetic changes can be inherited. This means that the environmental exposures we experienced as children can have consequences not just for us but also for our descendants. More philosophically, it means that, contrary to current biological dogma, the nineteenth-century idea that acquired traits can be passed down the generations may not be so wrong-headed after all. And this brings us back to Darwin, who developed his ideas before we had a working understanding of genes and who was agnostic on the subject of the heritability of acquired characteristics. The reality of epigenetic inheritance hardly overturns natural selection—indeed it shows us another route by which species can adapt. Finally, it shines a spotlight on one of Darwin’s lesser-appreciated insights: that all of life is interrelated—not only by our common origins but also by our common ecology."

Steingraer is too kind. Lamarck was laughed out of court for saying this. But Darwin had the name and influencial backers.

"Can environmentally induced or acquired changes in organisms be transmitted to future generations? Does the inheritance of acquired characteristics--if it occurs at all--play a significant role in evolution? These questions were the subject of heated scientific and political controversy until as recently as the 1960s, when the decisive successes of classical genetics submerged this debate. If asked, most biologists today would say that inheritance of acquired characteristics never occurs. Yet there are actually numerous well-documented examples of the phenomenon, and I believe it has played a major role in speeding up evolution."

Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics; March 1993; Scientific American Magazine; by Otto E. Landman; 1 Page(s)

http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=2D40FE07-49EA-4A19-840A-475A8B20456


This is exactly why so many of us claim that genetically modified food is and has always been risky. Furthermore, if it does in the end cause deathly problems, it will be terribly difficult to trace the problem back to the source. This is also why Monsanto and associates fight so hard to keep themselves on the gravy train and us ignorant.