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An acquired characteristic is a non-heritable change in a function or structure of a living organism caused after birth by disease, injury, accident, deliberate modification, variation, repeated use, disuse, misuse, or other environmental influence. Acquired traits are synonymous with acquired characteristics. They are not passed on to offspring through reproduction.
The changes that constitute acquired characteristics can have many manifestations and degrees of visibility, but they all have one thing in common. They change a facet of a living organism's function or structure after birth.
For example:
- The muscles acquired by a bodybuilder through physical training and diet.
- The loss of a limb due to an injury.
- The miniaturization of bonsai plants through cultivation techniques.
Acquired characteristics can be minor and temporary like bruises, blisters, or shaving body hair. Permanent but inconspicuous or invisible ones are corrective eye surgery and organ transplant or removal. Semi-permanent but inconspicuous or invisible traits are vaccination and laser hair removal. Perms, tattoos, scars, and amputations are semi-permanent and highly visible.
Applying makeup, nail polish, dying one's hair, applying henna to the skin, and tooth whitening are not examples of acquired traits. They change the appearance of a facet of an organism, but do not change the structure or functionality.
Inheritance of acquired characteristics was historically proposed by renowned theorists such as Hippocrates, Aristotle, and French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. Conversely, this hypothesis was denounced by other renowned theorists such as Charles Darwin. Today, although Lamarckism is generally discredited, there is still debate on whether some acquired characteristics in organisms are actually inheritable.[1][2]
- ^ Kofoid, C. A. (June 1925). "The Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics". Am J Public Health. 15 (6): 549. doi:10.2105/ajph.15.6.549-a. PMC 1320859.
- ^ Nisbet-Brown, E.; Wegmann, T. G. (1981). "Is acquired immunological tolerance genetically transmissible?". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 78 (9): 5826–5828. Bibcode:1981PNAS...78.5826N. doi:10.1073/pnas.78.9.5826. PMC 348875. PMID 7029546.