The “life code” theory postulates that egg cells, which are giant, are the first cells in reproduction and that damaged or aged giant somatic cells are the first cells in tumorigenesis. However, the hereditary basis for giant cells remains undefined. Here I propose that stress-induced genomic reorganization proposed by Nobel Laureate Barbara McClintock may represent the underlying heredity for giant cells, referred to as McClintock's heredity. Increase in cell size may serve as a response to environmental stress via switching proliferative mitosis to intranuclear replication for reproduction. Intranuclear replication activates McClintock’s heredity to reset the genome following fertilization for reproduction or restructures the somatic genome for neoplastic transformation via formation of polyploid giant cancer cells (PGCCs). The genome-based McClintock heredity functions together with gene-based Mendel's heredity to regulate the genomic stability at two different stages of life cycle or tumorigenesis. Thus, giant cells link McClintock's heredity to both early embryogenesis and tumor origin. Cycling change in cell size together with ploidy number switch may represent the most fundamental mechanism on how both germ and soma for coping with environmental stresses for the survival across the tree of life which evolved over millions of years on Earth.

“生命密码”理论假设巨大的卵细胞是繁殖的第一批细胞，而受损或老化的巨型体细胞是肿瘤发生的第一批细胞。然而，巨细胞的遗传基础仍未确定。在这里，我提出诺贝尔奖获得者芭芭拉麦克林托克提出的压力诱导的基因组重组可能代表了巨细胞的潜在遗传，称为麦克林托克遗传。细胞大小的增加可以通过将增殖性有丝分裂转换为核内复制进行繁殖来作为对环境压力的反应。核内复制激活 McClintock 的遗传，以在受精后重置基因组以进行繁殖，或通过形成多倍体巨癌细胞 (PGCC) 重组体细胞基因组以进行肿瘤转化。基于基因组的 McClintock 遗传与基于基因的孟德尔遗传一起发挥作用，在生命周期或肿瘤发生的两个不同阶段调节基因组稳定性。因此，巨细胞将麦克林托克的遗传与早期胚胎发生和肿瘤起源联系起来。细胞大小的循环变化和倍性数转换可能代表了胚芽和体细胞如何应对环境压力以在地球上进化了数百万年的生命之树中生存的最基本机制。