Question

Why are acquired traits not inherited

Answer 1

Acquired traits as the name says are acquired by the individual during its life time. Acquired traits are due to changes in the life style, injury, loss of body parts, disuse of some body parts. These are the traits which occur in the somatic cells. Changes in the somatic cells are not passed on to the offspring belonging to next generation. These traits doesn't reflect any changes in genes. Hence it is not passed on. Only genetic mutations are passed on to the next generation. In biology, a mutation is the permanent alteration of the nucleotide sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA or other genetic elements. Hence mutation changes are tranformed to the next generation because they are alternations of DNA. But aquired traits are the skills developed by a person which is not passed on genetically