Genetic memory: the surprising legacy of your ancestors

In 2013, a curious experiment was carried out with mice. A group of them were trained to develop an aversion to one type of odor. Later, when these animals had offspring, it was discovered that the offspring felt the same anxiety towards that type of odorous stimulus. In other words, they had inherited their parents’ fear without having had the same experience.

We understand genetic memory as that phenomenon in which an individual inherits memories or abilities without having been previously exposed to any type of experience. We know that this fact is seen in the animal kingdom. It is as if certain traumatic experiences were imprinted in the genetic code of a species, in order to facilitate the survival of the next generation.

Now, does the same happen in humans? Do we also inherit the fears of our parents or grandparents? Is the life of our ancestors a kind of “prologue” that shapes our own history? We will begin by pointing out that this issue is still controversial for many scientists. However, we can now clarify some data.

Our genes have imprinted the environmental factors to which our parents were exposed.

What is (and what is not) genetic memory?

When we talk about genetic memory it is common to make more than one mistake. For a start, Human beings cannot store memories experienced by their ancestors.. None of us can, for example, conjure up what our grandmother experienced during her childhood or what happened to our father when she turned forty.

However, What can be transmitted from one generation to another is the emotional imprint of a traumatic experience sustained over time. We talked at the beginning about the mouse experiment. It was Emory University in Atlanta that demonstrated in a study that certain adverse experiences in mice altered the neuronal structure in their offspring, to the point of inheriting the same fear.

Something similar happens in people. We know that situations of anguish and chronic stress of parents leave an imprint on the genetic material of new generations. A work published in Biological Psychiatry tells us about how a man’s stress can genetically affect his children, to the point of making them more vulnerable to adversity.

As living beings, we all carry with us a genetic imprint of what our family members have experienced. So, certain events can vary the genes and with them the phenotype of an organism. That is, our physiology and behavior.

Epigenetics and the case of Holocaust survivors

When it comes to understanding genetic memory, it is essential to talk about epigenetics. This concept refers precisely to how an individual’s experiences can change the way their DNA is expressed, and how that variation can be transmitted to the next generation.

That is to say, What is produced is a variation in the genes, but without altering the DNA code itself. They change some chemical labels and that can make our adaptation to the environment better… Or worse. Thus, a striking example of epigenetic transmission is in what we know as intergenerational traumas.

To illustrate this phenomenon we can turn to one of the most studied events: the impact of the Second World War. Research carried out in Israel by Dr. Natan Kellermann talks about how What the survivors of the Holocaust experienced did not remain only in their minds and bodies. That suffering transcended. And he did it in later generations.

What is striking is that, While some offspring show greater vulnerability to stress, others are more resilient. Each person faced those extreme experiences in a different way. Thus, this attitude and coping mechanisms were inherited by their children.

There are personality traits that can also be inherited from parents to children.

What our ancestors left us

Language can be considered, in part, as a partial trait of genetic memory. All of us are predisposed to communication thanks to the evolutionary and physiological development of our ancestors. But not only that. Although it is known that there is no genetic predisposition for a child to speak the language of his or her parents, there is a small aspect that we can appreciate.

There are studies that show us how languages ​​such as Mandarin and Vietnamese (in which tone is decisive) there is a variation in the gene to favor correct pronunciation. For example, the consequence would be that it would be easier for a baby born in Vietnam to learn the tonality required for that language than one born in Buenos Aires.

In short, our ancestors bequeathed us the most amazing aspects, some extraordinary and others less kind, it is true. Given this evidence, only one nuance can be added. The biological predisposes us and the environmental often determines us. This means that while one can inherit parental stress, the predisposition is not 100%. There is a risk, not a cause-effect.

However, Living in a family environment marked by abuse and constant mistreatment does have a direct effect on human beings.. Few emerge unscathed from childhood trauma, although this does not mean that we are eternal captives of that suffering. There are always resources, strategies and support that we can request to treat those wounds of yesterday.

Wounds that should be healed so as not to transmit them to our children.

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