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Humans like nearly all other species have their genetic base as a mixture 50:50 from the genes of their father and from the genes of their mother. Each generation represents a new combination of genes from the gene pool of the species. The genetic basis determines to a large amount who we are.
Does this fact contradict the rebirth of individuals?
This goes back to an argument that was very popular in 19th century: "is person's character inborn or is it a result of upbringing?"...
What is meant by "rebirth" in Buddhism is rebirth of the state of mind. In modern terms we could say that the living brain is only a carrier. So where does our state of mind come from?
Once as I meditated, I realized that some of my typical thoughts came back from my childhood, from my parent's dysfunctional family situation. And the roots of that situation can be traced to my father's childhood, and probably beyond, to his father's life.
Not all of it is passed down the family lines either. Today at least some of my thoughts came from news I read online about the situation in Ukraine. Do you understand? Our state of mind at any moment consists of elements each of which came down a chain of interactions that can be traced back to beginningless times!
Our state of mind is not "one thing", not an entity, there is no "I". The boundary between inner and outer is a fiction; there is an infinite sea of interacting mental and physical factors.
So why call it rebirth then? Because of appropriation. We appropriate a combination of traits as "I", "me", "mine". My country, my family, my childhood, my education, my believe, my values, my principles, my pride etc. Appropriation of these causes rebirth and suffering.
I was kind of confused and bewildered by the question but I think I understand what your getting at. I'm sure you know that genes don't have minds to perform karmic intentions. What genes a being is recombined with upon rebirth depends on the previous morality of the being (according to the teachings of the Buddha). Of course on another level, what genes a being gets depends on mother and father's genes:
One person is born with genes that give them a body that stays fit no matter what they eat while another person gets an unfit body even though they exercise and eat all the right foods. The Buddha 's teaching here is more at the level of answering the question as to why one person seems naturally rewarded by the genes they were born with while the other seems cursed. So, if we are cursed in this life it is because of bad karma(bad moral action) we made in a past life and if we are blessed it is because of good karma(good moral action) we performed in a past life according to Buddhism.-hope this helps :)
