Germ plasm
Plasma germinal
- Date
- 1892 · confidence medium
- Place
- Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Credited to
- August Weismann
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
A biological concept, formulated by August Weismann, holding that hereditary information is transmitted only by germ cells, not by somatic cells; the basis of the 'Weismann barrier' against Lamarckism.
What it led to
- The Weismann barrier as a refutation of inherited acquired characteristics
- A conceptual foundation of modern genetics
- Later debate with neo-Lamarckism and epigenetics