noun
- The essential protoplasm of a cell nucleus, believed in early biology to carry hereditary material; germ plasm.
Usage: biology; dated; historical term largely superseded by modern genetics terminology
Examples
- Early biologists theorized that idioplasm was the substance responsible for passing traits from parent to offspring.
- The concept of idioplasm was important in 19th-century discussions of heredity before the discovery of DNA.
- Weismann's work on idioplasm contributed to the development of modern evolutionary theory.