The Great Chaco Taco Question

If a person eats a Chaco Taco every day of his/her life up until he or she produces an offspring will said offspring have a stronger affinity toward Chaco Tacos than similar individuals whose parent(s) did not eat daily Chaco Tacos?

This question (in various forms) has been pondered throughout history and most famously by French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. In Lamarck’s evolutionary theory, articulated in the late 1700s and early 1800s he said that, yes, the offspring would have an affinity for Chaco Tacos.

This notion of passing on acquired traits has been subsequently disproven and given way to Mendelian genetics which is has then further been understood through our expanding knowledge of DNA.

While Mendel’s mechanisms came onto the scene later Charles Darwin (who was born the year Lamarck published a book reasserting the idea that acquired traits are heritable) swooped in to save the day and our understanding of how life works from generation to generation, with the theory of evolution through natural selection.  

Well, this is the type of narrative you learn about in biology courses. In many ways it seems like Lamarck was a villain or at least an oaf for his role in telling the story of natural history. Maybe it is never intended in this way but as a high school or college kid looking for the right answers the Lamarckian fool scenario is an easy one to arrive at.

Today as I was reading The Origin of Species (on the beach btw booyah I love vacation) I was surprised to read that Darwin gave some credit to the idea of acquired traits being passed on to subsequent generations but then later in the same chapter asserts that the laws of inheritance are largely unknown.

This reading was a gentle reminder for me that understanding is usually more of a gradient than a strict delineation of correct and incorrect (and also that I shouldn’t make out Lamarck as the Syndrome to Darwin’s Mr. Incredible).  But more importantly, as in the past, it will continue to be important to approach life’s questions, big or small, with an appreciation for the fact that we don’t always know everything.