Actually, the word “meme” was introduced as a reference to the word “gene”. A “meme” would be a similar concept but in a cultural (rather than biological) realm.
it is “a unit of cultural transmission”—the cultural equivalent of a gene
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/meme-word-origins-history
“USA”. America is a continent… Well… I guess that backs up the meme…