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Genetic inheritance

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Biological inheritance is the process by which an offspring cell or organism acquires or becomes predisposed to characteristics of its parent cell or organism. Variation in inheritance is a fundamental concept in Darwin's theory of evolution. The study of inheritance is genetics.

Mechanisms of biological inheritance

  1. Alterations in DNA sequence accounts for the vast majority of characterized heritable variation.
  2. Epigenetic inheritance results from reversible alterations in the activity of genes.
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