Structural inheritance is the transmission of a trait in a living organism by a self-perpetuating spatial structures. This is in contrast to the transmission of digital information such as is found in DNA sequences, which accounts for the vast majority of known genetic variation. Jump to: navigation, search In biology and ecology, an organism (in Greek organon = instrument) is an assembly of organs that influence each other in such a way that they function as a more or less stable whole and have properties of life. ... Jump to: navigation, search Space-filling model of a section of DNA molecule Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions specifying the biological development of all cellular forms of life (and most viruses). ... Genetics (from the Greek genno γεννώ= give birth) is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. ...

Examples of structural inheritance include yeast prions, and has also been seen in the orientation of cilia. Some other organelles may also demonstrate structural inheritance, and the cell itself (defined by the plasma membrane) may also be an example of structural inheritance. Jump to: navigation, search Yeasts constitute a group of single-celled (unicellular) fungi, a few species of which are commonly used to leaven bread and ferment alcoholic beverages. ... Jump to: navigation, search Prions — short for proteinaceous infectious particle — are infectious protein structures that replicate through conversion of other host proteins. ... Jump to: navigation, search cross-section of two motile cilia, showing the 9+2 structure A cilium (plural cilia) is an organelle projecting from a eukaryotic cell. ... Jump to: navigation, search Schematic of typical animal cell, showing subcellular components. ... Jump to: navigation, search Cells in culture, stained for keratin (red) and DNA (green) The cell is the structural and functional unit of all living organisms, and are sometimes called the building blocks of life. ... Drawing of a cell membrane A component of every biological cell, the cell membrane (or plasma membrane) is a thin and structured bilayer of phospholipid and protein molecules that envelopes the cell. ...

Various additional examples of structural inheritance are presented in the recent book Origination of Organismal Form. Jump to: navigation, search Origination of Organismal Form Beyond the Gene in Developmental and Evolutionary Biology Edited by Gerd Müller and Stuart Newman ISBN 0-262-13419-5 This book explores the multiple factors that may have been responsible for the origination of biological form in multicellular life. ...

External link

• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences supplement: Self-Perpetuating Structural States in Biology, Disease, and Genetics