© Als News Today
Can knowledge acquired during a lifetime be passed on to future generations? Using
innovative technologies such as
CRISPR-Cas9,
optogenetics, and small RNA-sequencing analysis, scientists are closer to answering this question. On June 6, 2019, researchers at Tel Aviv University published in
Cell a landmark study that shows how cells in the nervous system pass on information to future generations in worms.
A research study led by professor Oded Rechavi at the Department of Neurobiology, Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, at Tel Aviv University
led to the discovery of an RNA-based mechanism that enables neuronal responses to environment to be translated into heritable information that affects the behavior of progeny in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) nematodes, a type of worm."We propose that small RNA regulation is a mechanism that allows the nervous system to communicate with the germline affecting the behavior of the next generations," wrote the team in the study co-authored by Rechavi's students Rachel Posner, Itai Toker, and their research collaborators.
The researchers wrote that the concept "that the nervous system can control the progeny" directly challenges "one of the basic dogmas of biology"- the Weismann Barrier.
Comment: It seems that the constant din of environmental noise is getting louder as our technological society continues to progress. The saying "silence is golden" becomes more and more applicable with each passing day. Placing a value on silence, and working to experience it periodically, could be a way to reset the brain for proper functioning.
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