Hi everyone, as we progress in our cell unit, we will touch upon genetics and how specific traits are inherited, etc. In this week's blog, we are going to elaborate on this topic by discussing a new genetic discovery. Scientists have just published findings of a recent study that provides evidence of a new genetic trait. This specific study shows scents associated with terror may be passed on for two male generations. "Scientists have shown for the first time that fear can be transmitted from a father to his offspring through his sperm alone in a ground-breaking study into a new kind of genetic inheritance" (Connor, 2013).
This specific study experimented on mice and demonstrated that they can be trained to associate a particular kind of smell to a fearful memory. It also discovered that this fear can be passed down through subsequent generations via chemical changes to a father’s sperm cells. Therefore, these new findings raise questions over whether a similar kind of inheritance occurs in humans. Connor (2013) provides an example of "whether men exposed to the psychological trauma of a foreign war zone can pass on this fearful behavioural experience in their sperm to their children and grandchildren conceived at home."
As the article progresses, different scientists and researchers agree that while these results are encouraging, more careful mechanistic studies of animals is needed before associating such finding with humans. Therefore, you have two main tasks for this week's blog. First, read the article and respond with your thoughts in a blog post. Second, create a possible experiment that can be the next step in testing these findings. This experiment should be outlined in a discussion post, as well as mention how the results would impact human genetics.
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