"Do you disagree that The inheritance of acquired characteristics is simply changes in physiology acquired over the life of an organism that are transmitted to offspring ?"
"That definition is n't what I 'm disagreeing with I 'm just pointing out why it 's not happening here . Retroviruses , as I said , open up some very interesting possibilities . I 'm not aware of any conclusive research taking place - I know the immune system makes use of them but I do n't think there 's any evidence of immunity being passed down in that way : early mothers ' milk is the mechanism for that ( packed with a payload of antibodies to prime the infant 's immune system ) . To be honest , I think the existence of that system rather stomps on the plausibility of Lamarckian inheritance ; why bother going to all that trouble if the parent could simply code immunity into the genes it passes to its offspring ?"
"Do you disagree that The inheritance of acquired characteristics is simply changes in physiology acquired over the life of an organism that are transmitted to offspring ?"
"To be honest , I think the existence of that system rather stomps on the plausibility of Lamarckian inheritance ;"