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From Heredity and Genetics: The Dialogue Continued
Weismann, Germ-Plasm
In this illustration, German biologist August Weismann showed how the heritable substance, which he placed in the chromosomes, combined in the cell’s nucleus during sexual reproduction to produce offspring. Though he supported Darwin’s theory of natural selection, Weismann did not accept Darwin’s explanation of inheritance. Weismann proposed that the heritable substance was distinct from, and unaffected by, the rest of the organism’s body. This view would later underlie the genetic theory of inheritance.
August Weismann (1834–1914). The Germ-Plasm: A Theory of Heredity. W. N. Parker, trans. London: Walter Scott, [1892] 1893.
