Alas, poor Darwin. By all rights, 2009 should be his year, as books, museums and scholarly conclaves celebrate his 200th birthday (Feb. 12) and the 150th anniversary of "On the Origin of Species" (Nov ...

Chinese researchers recently uncovered molecular evidence supporting Lamarckism—a long-debated theory from the early 19 th century that acquired characteristics can be inherited. The evidence was ...

If you took a high school biology class, you’re probably familiar with Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s theory of evolution and its emphasis on the “inheritance of acquired characteristics” — think giraffes ...

WITH reference to the recent revival of what may be considered as “pure” Lamarckism, it appears to me of importance that those who have followed the course of biological work and thought in this ...

In a fundamental challenge to more than a century of Darwinian dominance, Chinese scientists have revived a long-dismissed evolutionary theory by proving that acquired traits can shape heredity – no ...

Our May Insights puzzle was inspired by recent discoveries of some rare, intriguing patterns of inheritance that hark back to Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s theory of evolution and its emphasis on the ...

CAN mice pass memories down several generations? It is a startling proposition, and has duly provoked some strong responses. “Crazy Lamarckian shit,” exclaimed one observer. To many biologists, the ...

Darwin believed it even though Galton experimentally disproved it—and had the right idea in his so-called “Stirp” theory of inheritance. Freud stubbornly stuck to it despite repeated protests from ...

EVOLUTION can occur in a way never previously shown. Geneticists have discovered that the strange proteins called prions can temporarily give yeast cells new powers which can then be quickly, and ...