The German biologist August Weismann
(1834-1914) was one of the most influential biologists of the late nineteenth
century. His most important contribution was the theory of germinal
plasma, also called in his honor Weismannism. According to this
theory, there are two classes of cells in all multi-cellular living organisms
(see Figure 1):
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| Figure 1 |
- Somatic cells, represented in the figure by
an S, that make up most of the body and do not play any role in inheritance.
- Germ cells, represented in the figure by
a G: the gametes, ovules and sperm, which pass the genetic information to
the next generation.
