by Jacquie Safieh

[Short description: Recent research has shown that modifications to DNA that occur due to circumstances in our lives are also passed down through generations, leaving embodied imprints of our ancestors experiences in our own genetic make-up. What can those of us working on ancestral re-membrance and ancestral healing learn from what science teaches us about this?]

For a long time, science has been catching up with what humans and communities know and feel intuitively. One area that science is beginning to catch up with those of us working on ancestral healing is in the area of inherited experiences. Since scientists first discovered deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the hereditary material passed down through generations in humans, animals, and plants, it was believed that our genes were ‘set in stone’, or unchangeable by our lived experiences. This idea is beginning to change, through the emergence of the field of epigenetics. Epigenetics shows how environmental influences, both positive and negative, influence the expression of our DNA, and how these changes can also be passed down through generations.

DNA is made up of patterns of four bases: adenosine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. These bases can be translated into many different strands of RNA, depending on where proteins begin reading DNA. The RNA strands can be modified, removing some base pairs (introns, aka. non-coding regions), and is then read in units of three base pairs. Each pattern of three base pairs corresponds to a certain amino acid based on the genetic code, which is common to humans, animals and plants. In this way, DNA has the ability to encode billions, trillions or infinite amounts of proteins. These proteins essentially direct everything in our body, from the development of a fetus, metabolism, hormones, and more.

Based on where DNA strands are read from (i.e. the reading frame), and which DNA strands are read, our body dictates the production of proteins in our body. This is where the epigenetics comes in. Certain parts of the DNA can be turned on or off, causing strands to be expressed or not expressed. The base pair patterns encoded in the strands of our DNA does not change (at least that’s what we seem to believe now), but modifications to the DNA, such as causing the strands to become more tightly curled or less tightly curled, influences how the DNA is expressed. In this model, DNA that has been more tightly curled is turned ‘off’, while DNA that has been opened or less tightly curled is turned ‘on’, causing the proteins encoded in the DNA from these regions to be more expressed. It is still unclear exactly how or why these modifications to our DNA occurs, however it appears to be a complex interaction between our environment and lived experiences and our bodies responses to our environments. These modifications of our DNA have been shown to be linked to physical symptoms and diseases, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, autoimmune disorders (such as diabetes and arthritis), cancers and more.

It was previously believed that these modifications all occurred after fertilization. However, recent research has suggested that in addition to passing down the DNA strands, the modifications to DNA that occur due to circumstances in our lives, are also passed down through generations. For example, Swedish researchers with extensive access to hundreds of years worth of birth/death records and harvesting information, were able to demonstrate how the grandchildren of grandmothers who experienced food shortages were at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. In this sense, our ancestors have also passed down remnants of their lived experiences, presumably with the intention that by activating or deactivating production of certain proteins, it would improve future generations chance of survival. There are also different ways that we interact with the DNA and modifications to it based on whether the chromosome is inherited maternally or paternally. For example, scientists and doctors now understand that two different diseases can occur from the exact same DNA modification at the exact same location depending on whether that DNA was inherited maternally or paternally.

These recent findings and research in epigenetics have proven that our lived experiences can be physically stored in our bodies and can also be inherited across generations.

So, what does this mean for ancestral re-membrance and ancestral healing?

First, because our DNA is modified by our experiences of trauma, the trauma is not only carried in our minds, but is also physically carried and expressed in our bodies. Health workers commonly hear patients who have experienced trauma complain of insomnia, changes in appetite, hyperarousal or agitation. But more and more, we are also seeing patients complain of physical symptoms such as severe pain, worsening symptoms of pre-existing conditions and more. For example, in one of my first shifts in the ER, I saw a patient who complained of sharp chest pain, muscle aches, and loss of appetite. Her symptoms had presented after she had helped her daughter finally leave an abusive situation, and she explained how she had to be strong for her daughter. Now that her daughter was safe, her trauma surrounding this situation had manifested as physical symptoms, similar to a heart attack.

Second, it’s important to keep in mind that our ancestors passed down tools that were intended for our survival. While the epigenetic signature on our genes can be influenced by negative influences, such as toxins or stress, it can also be influenced by positive influences, such as loving supportive relationships and connections. Often scientific research has focused on traumatic experiences, such as abuse, famine, genocide, on poor health in future generations. Yet at the same time, our ancestors who experienced this have also passed down tools for resilience, strength, love and survival. In the case of the mother above, she demonstrated all the love, strength and resilience of the women in her lineage who had previously experienced abusive home situations, in order to help her daughter reach safety. From what I gathered of her story, these characteristics have also been passed down to her daughter.

Third, because the epigenetic signatures are modifiable, it means that by working to heal ancestral traumas, we are able to heal future generations and prevent the impacts of negative influences, such as trauma, from continuing to be passed down. When we work to heal from ancestral traumas, we are not only healing ourselves, but also healing future generations. By helping her daughter leave the abusive situation, this mother was helping to heal her own unhealed traumas from her own abusive past, while showing her daughter that she could leave any abusive situation as soon as she recognizes the abusive patterns. She even told me that she hoped that if her daughter was fortunate enough to have daughters one day (if that's what she wanted), that she would teach them this lesson as well, and help them break the pattern of abuse that the women in her lineage had experienced for generations.

Fourth, while we inherit the signatures on our genes from our ancestors, we are not inheriting their trauma directly. Of course, certain patterns often repeat themselves, and our bodies physically store the impacts of negative influences. However, the epigenetic signatures we inherit are not in and of themselves negative influences. As Jana Lynne Umpig (@jlcreator), a multidisciplinary artist, educator, healer and activist interested in decolonizing and re-indigenizing, argues that the epigenetic signatures we inherit can be seen as sacred knowledge or teachings gifted to us from our ancestors and turned into medicines for future generations. This requires listening, addressing and healing from what is passed down, and sharing the wisdom gathered with our communities so that they may also heal, both themselves and future generations. If this mother becomes a grandmother one day, her granddaughter will certainly carry the legacy of her grandmother and mother’s experiences. With the love, resilience and strength of her family, she may be able to learn from these experiences, turning them into medicines for herself and those around her, to recognize similar abusive patterns and have the strength, courage and space to deal with the situation based on the lessons her family passes down.

Finally, it is important to acknowledge that this field is still not yet completely understood by the scientific community. Future research to better understand how epigenetic shifts occur, are passed down and can be modified by our environments and actions can perhaps begin to address some of the questions and knowledge gaps that still exist. Of course, as human beings are finite, we likely will never be able to completely understand every aspect of our genetic codes, and perhaps nor should we. However, if we can learn from our ancestors and appreciate the teachings they have passed down to us, perhaps we can strengthen future generations and achieve greater healing in our communities.

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Jacquie is a medical student at the University College Dublin and studies herbal medicine at the Irish College of Traditional and Integrative Medicine. She is a settler on the territories of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee, and her ancestors come from Egyptian, Palestinian and Ukrainian descent. Jacquie has been involved in Palestine solidarity organizing and collaborative organizing with other communities.