获得性遗传有望卷土重来吗

Would Inheritance of Acquired Characters be Revived ?

获得性遗传指亲代在有生之年获得的性状传递给后代的现象。此观点曾于19世纪中后期吸引了广泛关注,被认为是拉马克的主要贡献。20世纪中期完成的现代综合,确立了以新达尔文主义为核心的理论范式,获得性遗传再无立足之地。然而,近年来的表观遗传学研究,似乎预示着它的卷土重来。获得性遗传的定义几经变迁,大致可分为传统观和常识观两类。经验研究的细节揭示表明,随表观遗传复兴的并非前者,而是常识观的获得性遗传。

The ＂inheritance of acquired characters＂ （IAC） refers to the phenomenon that changes acquired by an organism during its lifetime are transmitted to its offspring. IAC is regarded as one of Lamarck＇s major contributions. Although IAC attracted lots of attentions in the late middle of 19th century, it was abandoned after the famous Modem Synthesis. However, recent empirical studies from epigenetics might announce its revival. The investigation of the history of IAC reveals that there are at least two concepts of IAC, the traditional IAC and the commonsense one. Instead of the former, a kind of commonsense IAC has been revived by epigenetic inheritance.