How do the experiences of our parents affect us? Do they affect only our learned behaviors? Or can they somehow affect our genes as well? Can the changes in someone's body due to a traumatic experience be passed on to their children and grandchildren? From famine in Ukraine to smells and diet in rats and mice, today we discuss how epigenetics plays a role in altering the biology of future generations. 

References: 

Bezo, B., & Maggi, S. (2015). Living in “survival mode:” Intergenerational transmission of trauma from the Holodomor genocide of 1932–1933 in Ukraine. Social Science & Medicine, 134, 87-94.

Dias, B. G., & Ressler, K. J. (2014). Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations. Nature neuroscience, 17(1), 89-96.

Ingerslev, L. R., Donkin, I., Fabre, O., Versteyhe, S., Mechta, M., Pattamaprapanont, P., ... & Barrès, R. (2018). Endurance training remodels sperm-borne small RNA expression and methylation at neurological gene hotspots. Clinical epigenetics, 10(1), 1-11.

McPherson, N. O., Owens, J. A., Fullston, T., & Lane, M. (2015). Preconception diet or exercise intervention in obese fathers normalizes sperm microRNA profile and metabolic syndrome in female offspring. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 308(9), E805-E821.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor