Hard inheritance was a model of
heredity that explicitly excludes any acquired characteristics, such as of
Lamarckism
Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...
. It is the exact opposite of
soft inheritance
Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...
, coined by
Ernst Mayr to contrast ideas about
inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officia ...
.
Hard inheritance states that characteristics of an organism's offspring (passed on through
DNA) will not be affected by the actions that the
parental
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male ...
organism
In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...
performs during its lifetime. For example: a medieval
blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
who uses only his right arm to
forge steel will not sire a son with a stronger right arm than left because the blacksmith's actions do not alter his genetic code. Inheritance due to usage and non-usage is excluded. Inheritance works as described in the
modern synthesis of evolutionary biology.
The existence of inherited
epigenetic variants has led to renewed interest in soft inheritance.
[Richards, E. J. (May 2006). "Inherited epigenetic variation—revisiting soft inheritance". ]Nature Reviews Genetics
''Nature Reviews Genetics'' is a monthly review journal published by Nature Portfolio. It was established in 2000 and covers the full breadth of modern genetics. The editor-in-chief is Linda Koch. The journal publishes review and perspective arti ...
7 (5): 395–401. .
References
{{reflist
Epigenetics
Evolution
Population genetics