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August Weismann (born January 17, 1834, Frankfurt am Main—died November 5, 1914, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany) was a German biologist and one of the founders of the science of genetics. He is best known for his opposition to the doctrine of the inheritance of acquired traits and for his ā€œgerm plasmā€ theory, the forerunner of DNA theory. From early boyhood, when he made expeditions into the surrounding countryside to collect insects and plants, Weismann showed...