The Lamarckian chicken and the Darwinian egg

Abstract

Which came first, the Chicken or the Egg?" We suggest this question is not a paradox. The Modern Synthesis envisions speciation through genetic changes in germ cells via random mutations, an "Egg first" scenario, but perhaps epigenetic inheritance mechanisms can transmit adaptive changes initiated in the soma ("Chicken first"). Reviewers: The article was reviewed by Dr. Eugene Koonin, Dr. Itai Yanai, Dr. Laura Landweber.