Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
genetic programme, genetic information or the plan of the organism.
The immense accumulation of experimental knowledge which has
occurred since the 19th century has provoked major changes in
genetics. The genome has replaced the germ-plasm, and the field has
incorporated all the discoveries made in the 20th century, though its
hylemorphic metabiology has remained the same. The idea that
hereditary material contains in-
form
-ation, a true sanctuary pre-
serving the integrity of the species, is at the heart of the concepts of
molecular biology. Jacques Monod expressed it in words very close
to those of Weismann, encompassing the concepts and language of
information theory. According to him, reproductive invariance is the
first principle of life which he defines as:
“…their ability to reproduce and to transmit
ne varietur
the infor-
mation corresponding to their own structure; very valuable infor-
mation, since it describes an organisational scheme which is
exceedingly complex and also preserved intact from one generation
to the next. (…) the 'invariance content' of a given species is equal
to the amount of information which, transmitted from one gener-
ation to the next, ensures the preservation of the specific structural
standard”
(CN pp. 23-24).
Genetics certainly accepts variation, but as a mutation of this
unvarying Form. As Monod again explains, mutation is an accident
which upsets reproductive invariance:
“Nor, without violating the laws of physics, could the mechanism
of replication be completely immune to disturbances, or accidents.
(…) We say that these events are accidental, due to chance”
(CN
pp. 109-110).
7.5
The contradiction in genetic determinism is a consequence
of genetic essentialism
Original Darwinism and genetics are based on clearly antithetical
metabiologies. Darwinism is a theory privileging the point of view
