Genes switched off before being passed on

This "discovery" isn't as new as it sounds, but it's fascinating and yet another example of how the book on genetics is being rewritten. Remember all the stuff you learned in biology about genetic inheritance? Well it turns out a lot of it was wrong, including the main assumption that we only pass on our genes to our offspring, and nothing else. The interesting thing to watch will be the implications for one Mr. Charles Darwin and his theory of natural selection, which in its original form looks increasingly inadequate for explaining stuff like this. Remember LaMarck's competing theory? The one with the giraffes that stretch their necks to reach the leaves and then pass their long necks on to their children? It sounded so stupid right? Well it's turning out he was actually (partially) right after all.