Inherited Dreams:Too Good to be True
Scientists have long assumed that memories and learned experiences built up during a lifetime must be passed on by teaching later generations or through personal experience.
However, new research has shown that it is possible for some information to be inherited biologically through chemical changes that occur in DNA.Our life experiences may be passed on to our children and our children's children - and now scientists report that they have discovered that this inheritance can be turned on or off.Isn't it mind boggling?
In medical science, Epigenetics is the study of inherited changes in gene expression…changes that are inherited, but they are not inherent to our DNA. Life experiences, which aren’t directly coded in human DNA, can actually be passed on to children. Studies have shown that survivors of traumatic events may have effects in subsequent generations.
The question of course, is how are these genetic “memories” passed on?
Well, scientists have identified a mechanism that amplifies heritable small RNAs across generations, so that the response was not diluted.They found that enzymes called RdRPs are required for re-creating new small RNAs to keep the response going in subsequent generations.
From there, scientists were able to determine that specific genes, which they dubbed Modified Transgenerational Epigenetic Kinetics (MOTEK) are also involved in turning epigenetic transmission on and off. Switching on/off are based on the feedback interaction between RNAs (which are inherited) and the MOTEK genes that are necessary in producing and transmitting the RNA through each generation.
The current study was conducted on worms, but understanding the principles behind the process of passing on epigenetic information will ultimately lend itself to a more comprehensive theory of heredity, especially for humans.It is high time that the public health researchers take human transgenerational responses seriously.Whether called ancestral, genetic or racial memory, or intuitions, or congential gifts, the concept of a genetic transmission of sophisticated knowledge, well beyond ‘instincts’ is necessary to explain how prodigious savants, for example, can know things they never learned!
