Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking. Login or Take a Tour!
The dawn of epigenetics and RNA interference have somewhat vindicated Lamarck in recent years, although only partly. It has been shown in rat models that stressing out rats leads to stressed out offspring, even when the babies are raised by placid mothers, suggesting that aggression and anxiety can be passed on to offspring without the aid of genes. While its unknown, the epigenetic environment probably is responsible, but I suspect that regulatory RNAs are involved, as well. I know several people who are investigating similar effects with obesity. Can fat beget fat? Probably, is my suspicion. That is a reason I suspect that our current obesity problem is accelerating. Perhaps each generation of successively fatter individuals will have children whose biology makes it more difficult to process calories efficiently.