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Scientists Find Olfactory "Memory" Passed Between Generations In Mice

Posted by samzenpus on from the mama's-gonna-put-all-of-her-fears-into-you dept.

New submitter Raging Bool writes "The BBC is reporting that acquired phobias or aversions by mice can be passed on to subsequent generations. From the article: 'Experiments showed that a traumatic event could affect the DNA in sperm and alter the brains and behavior of subsequent generations. A Nature Neuroscience study shows mice trained to avoid a smell passed their aversion on to their 'grandchildren.''"

1 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. They did not pass "aversion" to their grandkids by belphegore · · Score: 5, Informative

    The grandkids had enhanced receptors for that particular smell. They specifically did not test for, and point out in the paper that they do not claim that the AVERSION was passed on, only that F1 and F2 had structures in the brain that are enlarged compared to control, and that are associated with the sense of smell for the chemical that was used to prime the F0 generation.

    Much better science-savvy writeup by my cousin on the Nat Geo blog:

    http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/01/mice-inherit-specific-memories-because-epigenetics/