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Updated: May 22, 2026

High-throughput Screening for Protein-based Inheritance in S. cerevisiae
Published on: August 8, 2017
The extended evolutionary synthesis and the role of soft inheritance in evolution
Thomas E Dickins1, Qazi Rahman
1School of Psychology, University of East London, , London E15 4LZ, UK. dickins@uel.ac.uk
Abstract:
In recent years, a number of researchers have advocated extending the modern synthesis in evolutionary biology. One of the core arguments made in favour of an extension comes from work on soft inheritance systems, including transgenerational epigenetic effects, cultural transmission and niche construction. In this study, we outline this claim and then take issue with it. We argue that the focus on soft inheritance has led to a conflation of proximate and ultimate causation, which has in turn obscured key questions about biological organization and calibration across the life span to maximize average lifetime inclusive fitness. We illustrate this by presenting hypotheses that we believe incorporate the core phenomena of soft inheritance and will aid in understanding them.
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