Heritable Changes By Blood Transfusion

Inducing heritable changes by blood transfusion

In the 1950s, Soviet biologists reported inducing hereditary changes in a small fraction of domestic chickens by blood transfusion. The traits most frequently observed have been plumage and eggshell color and body weight. This work received considerable attention among geneticists. These findings were repeated by European labs. Many labs were not able to repeat these results. I have not read any studies in animals other than domestic chickens.

Papers that were able to produce heritable changes by blood infusions:

Modifications des caractères à la suite de greffes intervariétales chez le Solanum melongena Stroun et al. Comptes Rendues á l'Academie de Science Paris, 1962

Article reviewed and translated here.

Papers that were not able to produce heritable changes by blood infusions:

A failure to induce heritable changes in four generations of the White Leghorn chicken by inter- and intra-specific blood transfusion

I. L. Kosin and Masaru Katoj. 1963. Genet. Res. Camb.