Researchers at Emory University have found that smells, and possibly other experiences, change the DNA in mice and these changes are then passed on to their offspring. You can read the actual science here and here, and there is a video that explains it here.

Contemplating the possibility that human DNA changes could behave similarly has amazing ramifications for our mental and physical health--and our history. Perhaps this has something to do with why some battles become so entrenched for generations.

It certainly impacts how I think about working with clients who have suffered trauma. Is there a genetic component that makes certain people more vulnerable to trauma complications? If so, this may explain why somatic therapies benefit trauma patients in ways that pure psychotherapy doesn’t. We know that trauma changes the brain. The fact that it may also change our actual genetic structure isn’t a huge leap.

This may also help explain how and why some other pathologies seem to be more common among people who have suffered trauma. And it may very well stretch beyond just trauma. Who knows what our great, great, greats may have experienced and passed down to us? Fascinating.

Photo credit: SchrodingersCat19