TITLE:
Do You Realize Two Basic Questions in Genetics?
AUTHORS:
Muying Zhou
KEYWORDS:
Hereditary, Germplasm, Gene, Template, Genetics
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.5 No.2,
February
27,
2018
ABSTRACT: There are two basic questions in genetics. The “first question” inquires about the germplasm that is capable of producing an individual. It asks “Who produces the individual?” Preformation, Darwin’s Pangenesis, and Weisman’s Germ-plasm theories are all attempts to answer the “first question”. The “second question” usually arises in sexually reproducing species. Because there are two parents (dad and mom) that form the producer (germplasm), one question arises: which pattern (dad or mom) appears in the offspring? It asks “What thing stimulates dad (or mom) to produce offspring having their own pattern?” As in his experiments, Mendel assumed that “the tall (short) variety contains something that makes the plants tall (short)”. “Blending inheritance”, which has been popular in history, is an attempt to answer the “second question”. In short, the “first question” is a matter of the germplasm; and the “second question” is a matter of the template. Mendel’s experiments are typical “second question” experiments. Therefore, the gene found by Mendel is the template that promotes the formation of the individual (traits) rather than the producer. However, the basis of genetics should be the germplasm (producer) rather than the template.