Meaning of somatoplasm | Babel Free

Definitions

The protoplasm of somatic cells.

countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“The arcs represent⟳ the somatoplasms of four individuals.”

“He^([Weismann]) proposed a one-way relationship between the hereditary material contained in the gametes (the germ-plasm) and the rest⟳ of the body (the somatoplasm). He recognised that the germ-plasm is continuous from generation to generation. In each generation it is responsible for forming the somatoplasm. Crucially, however, the somatoplasm does not influence⟳ the germ-plasm.”

“As dazzling as biology's accomplishments are in making sense⟳ of genes, biologists are still bewildered by the immortality of germplasm and the mortality of somatoplasm. Indeed, the problem of immortality would disappear⟳ if the situation were reversed and, instead of germplasm, somatoplasm were immortal. Why are germ- and somatoplasm different in this crucial respect⟳? Weismann had proposed the existence of different germ- and somatoplasms in order⟳ to explain⟳ the results of experiments intended to test⟳ the Lamarckian principle of the "inheritance of acquired characteristics."”

CEFR level