pangenesis

American  

[pan-jen-uh-sis] / pænˈdʒɛn ə sɪs /

noun

Biology.

1. the theory that a reproductive cell contains gemmules or invisible germs that were derived from the individual cells from every part of the organism and that these gemmules are the bearers of hereditary attributes.

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pangenesis British  

/ pænˈdʒɛnɪsɪs, ˌpændʒəˈnɛtɪk /

noun

1. a former theory of heredity, that each body cell produces hereditary particles that circulate in the blood before collecting in the reproductive cells See also blastogenesis

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pangenetically
  adverb
• pangenetic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pangenesis

1868; pan- + genesis; term introduced by Charles Darwin

Example Sentences

Buried in the text of that review was the most powerful argument against pangenesis that Darwin would encounter in his lifetime.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

It was a name that protested its own origin: even though he had systematically demolished Darwin’s theory of pangenesis, de Vries paid his mentor a final homage.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Digby's general theory thus represents a strange mixture of epigenesis and pangenesis, and is not entirely devoid of "virtues."

From Medical Investigation in Seventeenth Century England Papers Read at a Clark Library Seminar, October 14, 1967 by Bodemer, Charles W.

With respect to the final and total suppression or abortion of any organ, another and distinct principle, which will be discussed in the chapter on pangenesis, probably takes a share in the work.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Volume II (of 2) by Darwin, Charles

This theory—which is not unlike a combination of Darwin's pangenesis with De Vries's neo-pangenesis—is very significant, for it discloses Spencer's hypothesis as to the modus operandi of the transmission of acquired characters.

From Herbert Spencer by Thomson, J. Arthur (John Arthur)