Updating Darwin: biologists are returning to an older theory to explain anomalies in evolution

A theory of evolution that French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed back in eighteen oh nine — that organisms can acquire beneficial traits and pass them to offspring — was supposedly disproven over a century ago. The Conversation reports that modern biology is proving it wasn't entirely wrong. Researchers have discovered that small worms called C. elegans inherit stress-response molecules from their parents, rice plants pass down cold-weather adaptations, and killer whales teach hunting techniques across generations. Rather than replacing Darwin's natural selection, this Lamarckian inheritance appears to work alongside it as a second driver of evolution, with potential applications ranging from crop improvement to helping corals survive warming oceans.

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