Trauma Altered Holocaust Survivor Genes

A team of researchers at New York’s Mount Sinai hospital has found concrete evidence to support the controversial theory of epigenetic inheritance, or the notion that environmental influences can affect the genes of future generations. The study analyzed the genes of a group of 32 Jewish men and women who were directly affected by the Holocaust—either at concentration camps or hiding from the Nazis—and their children, who have high rates of stress disorders. They compared these genes with Jewish families who lived outside of Europe. Rachel Yehuda, the teams lead researcher, said “the gene changes in the children could only be attributed to Holocaust exposure in the parents,” and did not find any correlating gene similarities, at least when it comes to stress levels, between those whose families did not experience the trauma. Similar studies have linked schizophrenia and obesity in children to major life events of their parents.