For quite some time, people have spoken about memories and ideas being spread through generations, but up until now, science hasn’t confirmed it. In a recent study carried out by Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, they explored this very topic.
For the purpose of the study, the researchers studied mice. What they found was that information, experience, and memories can be passed through generations. One example of this is that mice who had never been exposed to cherry blossom before were upset by the smell, causing them to believe that this was something engrained in their genetics.
One of the researchers, Dr. Brian Dias works as a scientist at the department of psychiatry at the university, and he believes that we can pass information through our genes. As an example to back his theory, he reminds us of the increased risks carried with some family lines for anxiety and phobias.
If you think about it- it makes sense for us to pass information through our genes, especially information that would be useful to our survival. For example, if we smell certain toxins, we would be reminded of the fact that we need to stay away from them.
Dias claims that our body carried the information from our brain and transmits the data into genomes, which causes it to be passed through our DNA.
Another interesting aspect of this, as noted by Professor Marcus Pemrey, who also worked on this research, is that it could explain how later generations are more at risk for anxiety if they had a family member in earlier generations with PTSD. This tells us that generation curses go far beyond the realm we have ever imagined.
With further study, this research could prove to be beneficial in understanding genetics and how we are pre-disposed to certain conditions, and even how instincts evolve.