The Weismann barrier, proposed by August Weismann, is the strict distinction between the "immortal" germ cell lineages producing gametes and "disposable" somatic cells, in contrast to Charles Darwin's proposed pangenesis mechanism for inheritance. In more precise terminology, hereditary information moves only from germline cells to somatic cells. This does not refer to the central dogma of molecular biology, which states that no sequential information can travel from protein to DNA or RNA, but both hypotheses relate to a gene-centric view of life. Weismann set out the concept in his 1892 book Das Keimplasma: eine Theorie der Vererbung. The Weismann barrier was of great importance in its day and among other influences it effectively banished certain Lamarckian concepts: in particular, it would make Lamarckian inheritance from changes to the body difficult or impossible. It remains important, but has however required qualification in the light of modern understanding of horizontal gene transfer and some other genetic and histological developments. The use of this theory, commonly in the context of the germ plasm theory of the late 19th century, before the development of better-based and more sophisticated concepts of genetics in the early 20th century, is sometimes referred to as Weismannism. Some authors call Weismannist development that in which there is a distinct germ line, differently of somatic embryogenesis. This type of development is correlated with the evolution of death of the somatic line.
In plants, genetic changes in somatic lines can and do result in genetic changes in the germ lines, because the germ cells are produced by somatic cell lineages, which may be old enough to have accumulated multiple mutations since seed germination, some of them subject to natural selection. Likewise, basal animals such as sponges and corals contain multipotent stem cell lineages, that give rise to both somatic and reproductive cells. The Weismann barrier appears to be of a more recent evolutionary origin.
