What genes remember

Many geneticists now think that the behaviour of genes can be altered by experience and that these changes can be passed on to future generations.

In 1942 Conrad Waddington contrived the idea that an organism’s experience may cause genes to behave differently. He called this epigenetics. Until recently however it was assumed that the impact of epigenetics was confined to individual organisms and not passed on to their offspring. Scientists have become convinced of epigenetic inheritance, in which the behaviour of offspring is affected by the life experience of parents and furthermore these genes can extend to further generations although not lasting indefinitely. Epigenetic inheritance merely alters the ability of a gene to be expressed in offspring, but leaves the DNA, and the genes, intact. It can also be readily reversed and there is as yet little or no evidence that it persists for longer than a few generations.

Clear links between epigenetic inheritance and gene expression have not yet been found in humans. This would require multigenerational studies taking at least half a century. Fortunately there are historical records that provide striking indirect evidence of epigenetic inheritance surviving for at least two generations. The theory is still in early stages. However proof of it could help fill some of the gaps in evolutionary theory that creationists have exploited to bash Darwinism.