Which process is responsible for passing genetic information from parents to offspring?

Genetic inheritance refers to the process by which genetic information is transmitted from parents to their offspring. This process is fundamental to the biological continuity of species and involves the passing down of DNA, which contains genes that determine an organism's traits and characteristics. During reproduction, parents contribute their genetic material to the offspring, resulting in a unique combination of genes that influence everything from physical traits to susceptibility to certain diseases.

Mutation involves changes in the DNA sequence that can occur spontaneously or as a result of environmental factors. While mutations can introduce new traits into a population, they do not directly describe the process of passing genetic information from one generation to the next.

Natural selection is a mechanism of evolution where individuals with favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce, thus passing those traits on to future generations. However, it does not directly refer to the transmission of genetic material; rather, it describes how certain traits become more or less common in a population over time.

Transcription is a cellular process where the information in a gene's DNA is copied to produce RNA, which is then used to create proteins. Although transcription plays a crucial role in gene expression, it is not concerned with the inheritance of genetic information between generations.

Thus, genetic inheritance is the correct term to describe the