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 /

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

• pangenetic
  adjective
• pangenetically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of pangenesis

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pangenesis

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

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

This important distinction between transmission and development will be easiest kept in mind by the aid of the hypothesis of pangenesis, whether or not it be accepted as true.

From The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Vol. I by Charles Darwin

The theory of pangenesis, as propounded by Mr. Darwin, may be very briefly stated as follows: The cells in all parts of the body are continually throwing off germinal particles, or "gemmules."

From The Whence and the Whither of Man A Brief History of His Origin and Development through Conformity to Environment; Being the Morse Lectures of 1895 by John Mason Tyler

Clémence, French translation of the 'Origin' by,  246;publication of third French edition of the 'Origin,' and criticism of pangenesis by,  275.

From Charles Darwin: His Life in an Autobiographical Chapter, and in a Selected Series of His Published Letters by Charles Darwin