# Genes Are Recipes Rather Than Blueprints by Robert Provine > “The probabilistic, epigenetic processes of morphogenetic fields force a reconsideration of what it means to be "genetically determined" and illustrate why genes are better understood as recipes than blueprints; genes provide instructions for assembly, not a detailed plan for the final product.” > **— Robert Provine**, *2017 Edge Annual Question, response passage* ## Sources and Context - **Direct publication and locator:** [Morphogenetic Field — Robert Provine](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/27037) — 2017 Annual Question response, contiguous sentence(s) within the representative extract. - **Exact original excerpt:** “The probabilistic, epigenetic processes of morphogenetic fields force a reconsideration of what it means to be "genetically determined" and illustrate why genes are better understood as recipes than blueprints; genes provide instructions for assembly, not a detailed plan for the final product. For psychologists and other social scientists whose developmental studies are based more on philosophical than biological foundations, morphogenetic fields provide a good starting point for learning how development works. Embryos provide excellent instruction about development for those knowing where to look and how to see.” - **Context and editing:** Provine’s statement concerns morphogenetic fields and developmental plasticity; “recipes rather than blueprints” is his analogy for genetic instruction, not a rejection of genes. No editorial words were inserted. - **Local Edge archive:** [[research/Edge 2017 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2017 Full Quotation Curation]], response EDGE2017-177. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Epigenetic Modification|Epigenetic Modification]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Epigenetic Modification|Epigenetic Modification]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “The probabilistic, epigenetic processes of morphogenetic fields force a reconsideration of what it means to be "genetically determined" and illustrate why genes are better understood as recipes than blueprints; genes provide instructions for assembly, not a detailed plan for the final product.” — Robert Provine, 2017 Edge Annual Question, response passage https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-robert-provine-genes-recipes-rather-than-blueprints ```