New research from Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta, has shown that it is possible for some information to be inherited biologically through chemical changes that occur in DNA.
During the tests they learned that that mice can pass on learned
information about traumatic or stressful experiences – in this case a fear of thesmell of cherry blossom – to subsequent generations.
According to the Telegraph, Dr Brian Dias, from the department of psychiatry at Emory University, said: ”From a translational perspective, our results allow us to appreciate how the experiences of a parent, before even conceiving offspring, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations.
“Such a phenomenon may contribute to the etiology
and potential intergenerational transmission of risk for
neuropsychiatric disorders such as phobias, anxiety and post-traumatic
stress disorder.”
This suggests that experiences are somehow
transferred from the brain into the genome, allowing them to be passed
on to later generations.
The researchers now hope to carry out further work to understand how the information comes to be stored on the DNA in the first place.
They also want to explore whether similar effects can be seen in the genes of humans.
Professor Marcus Pembrey, a paediatric geneticist at
University College London, said the work provided “compelling evidence”
for the biological transmission of memory.
He added: “It addresses constitutional fearfulness
that is highly relevant to phobias, anxiety and post-traumatic stress
disorders, plus the controversial subject of transmission of the
‘memory’ of ancestral experience down the generations.
“It is high time public health researchers took human transgenerational responses seriously.
“I suspect we will not understand the rise in neuropsychiatric disorders or obesity, diabetes and metabolic disruptions generally without taking a multigenerational approach…..
http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2015/01/13/scientists-have-found-that-memories-might-be-passed-down-through-generations-in-our-dna/
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