How does epigenetics relate to the question of whether lifetime traits can be passed to offspring?

Lamarckism is a historical theory suggesting that physical changes acquired by an organism during its lifetime can be passed to its offspring. This concept is largely discredited by modern genetics, which distinguishes between somatic (body) cells and germ cells, noting that modifications to the former are generally not transmitted to the next generation.1234

Epigenetics relates to this question by studying chemical modifications—such as methylation—that regulate gene expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence. While these modifications can influence an organism's phenotype and are sometimes passed to offspring through epigenetic inheritance, the mechanism is distinct from the inheritance of acquired physical traits proposed by Lamarck.56

Crucially, many epigenetic marks are "reset" during reproduction, and they do not function as a direct mechanism for the inheritance of bodily modifications in higher animals. Epigenetics instead highlights the complex, dynamic interplay between an organism's environment and its gene activity, providing a biological link for how experiences might influence development across generations, rather than validating the traditional Lamarckian view of inherited physical changes.356