For a long time, those who studied the nature of life and heredity were divided into two camps: epigeneticists , who emphasized environmental influences on living organisms, and preformists , who stressed the similarities between parents and progeny.
Po dlouhou dobu byli ti, kdo studovali podstatu života a dědičnosti, rozděleni na dva tábory: epigenetiky , kteří zdůrazňovali vlivy životního prostředí na živé organismy, a preformisty , již kladli důraz na podobnosti mezi rodiči a potomstvem.