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Glite Dictionary
🌱 Asexual budding 🧬 Inheritance theory
blastogenesis

blastogenesis

9.9
An old idea that children inherit traits only from parents' reproductive cells, not from life experiences
  • noun
  • /blæstəˈdʒɛnɪsɪs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : blastogénesis
  • Modern genetics has largely superseded the theory of blastogenesis with the discovery of DNA.

Examples

  • The concept of blastogenesis was once central to debates about heredity in the 19th century.

  • Unlike pangenesis, blastogenesis emphasizes inheritance through the germ plasm alone.

  • The theory of blastogenesis is crucial in understanding heredity.

  • Many biologists study blastogenesis to explore genetic inheritance.

  • The theory of blastogenesis explains how certain inherited traits are passed down through the germ plasm.

  • Many scientists refer to blastogenesis when discussing the mechanisms of genetic inheritance.

  • In biology, blastogenesis is important for understanding how characteristics are inherited over generations.

Surface Forms

blastogenesis singular
blastogeneses plural

Morphology

blastogenesis = genesis (opaque) = blasto + genesis

Although built from 'blasto-' + 'genesis', this sense denotes a specific, technical biological theory and cannot be inferred from the morphemes by typical learners.

Etymology

Blastogenesis in older biology also uses the roots blasto- 'bud' and -genesis 'origin'. A helpful way to remember the theory is that it imagined inheritance coming from tiny 'germs' or starting cells that carry traits, so the name links to the idea of traits beginning in a small 'bud' rather than being made by the environment.