Neo-Lamarckism

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Neo-Lamarckism \Ne`o-La*marck"ism\, n. (Biol.)
     Lamarckism as revived, modified, and expounded by recent
     biologists, esp. as maintaining that the offspring inherits
     characters acquired by the parent from change of environment,
     use or disuse of parts, etc.; -- opposed of {Neo-Darwinism}
     (which see, above).


  
     Note: This theory has been thoroughly discredited, though it
           had some support for a time in the Soviet Union due to
           the influence of the biologist Lysenko.--
           {Ne`o-La*marck"i*an}, a. & n.
           [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Neo-Lamarckism
       n : a modern Lamarckian theory emphasizing the importance of
           environmental factors in genetic changes and retaining
           the notion of the inheritance of acquired characters