\n Others You<\/p>\n
While trauma is carried in your DNA, science reveals a more complicated story<\/p>\n
As war continues to rage in Gaza and Ukraine, there is concern about how the related trauma might be transmitted to future generations of people in those regions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More generally, interest in the idea of transgenerational trauma has recently surged. For example, earlier this year, National Geographic magazine asked whether genes carry past family trauma. But while this might be a catchy question, it\u2019s also slightly misleading. Because while trauma can ripple across generations, shaped by how our bodies respond to their environments, its effects aren\u2019t hard-coded in our genes.<\/p>\n
Plastic minds\u00a0and bodies<\/p>\n
At the heart of this process is what\u2019s known as phenotypic plasticity. This is the capacity for organisms to produce different outcomes from the same genes, depending on their environment. These outcomes, called phenotypes, can include stress sensitivity and body shape.<\/p>\n
One way different phenotypes can arise from the same genes is via epigenetics: small chemical changes to the DNA molecule that make particular genes more or less active. Think of these like a director\u2019s notes on a script. These notes guide the cell on which lines to emphasise or soften, without changing the script itself.<\/p>\n
Understanding how trauma is passed across generations means looking beyond genes and cells to the environments that shape and influence them.<\/p>\n
Human development is sculpted by lived experience, from caregiving and community to stress, safety and belonging.<\/p>\n
These factors interact to produce lasting \u2013 but not always fixed \u2013 effects. By focusing on how they interact, rather than on single causes, we can better understand why trauma echoes across generations. This also helps us identify how that cycle might be disrupted.<\/p>\n
Widespread in nature<\/p>\n
Phenotypic plasticity is widespread in nature. In honeybees, genetically identical larvae become queens or workers depending on what they eat while developing. In three-spined stickleback fish, early exposure to predators reshapes their stress physiology and body shape, making them harder for predators to grasp.<\/p>\n
These aren\u2019t genetic differences \u2013 they\u2019re environmental effects on development.<\/p>\n
In humans, early-life conditions similarly shape development. A child raised in an unsafe setting may develop heightened vigilance or stress sensitivity \u2013 traits that help in danger but can persist as anxiety or chronic stress in times of safety. This is known as environmental mismatch.<\/p>\n
Across generations, plasticity becomes more complicated. In recent past, experts have studied how diet in one generation of fruit flies shaped health, reproduction and longevity in their offspring and grand offspring. The results varied depending on diet, generation and trait. Traits that appeared to be useful in one generation weren\u2019t always so in the next. This highlights how difficult transgenerational effects are to predict \u2013 precisely because of this plasticity.<\/p>\n
Too narrow an\u00a0explanation<\/p>\n
Epigenetics often reflect environmental exposures \u2013 such as stress, trauma, nutrition or caregiving. But they\u2019re not necessarily permanent \u201cscars\u201d. Many are dynamic and can shift with changing environments \u2013 especially early in life.<\/p>\n
Studies show that epigenetic patterns linked to early childhood adversity vary depending on later environments such as family stability and social support. This suggests the biological imprint of early stress is shaped by what happens next.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s tempting to treat epigenetics as the key to explaining inherited trauma \u2013 but that\u2019s too narrow. Trauma can influence the next generation through altered hormones, immune function or in utero conditions \u2013 all of which shape brain development and stress reactivity.<\/p>\n
Genetic variation also plays a major role. It doesn\u2019t encode trauma itself, but it shapes traits such as sensitivity to threat or emotional regulation. These traits aren\u2019t chosen \u2013 they arise from a web of biological and social influences beyond our control.<\/p>\n
Connection to culture<\/p>\n
Connection to culture plays an important role too. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Maori-led initiatives that centre land, language and whakapapa (ancestral lineage) have shown promise in restoring wellbeing after generations of colonisation-related trauma.<\/p>\n
For Holocaust survivors and descendants, connection to cultural identity through ritual and shared narrative can reduce the psychological burden of transmitted trauma.<\/p>\n
But not all trauma is collective or institutional. Interventions such as trauma-informed parenting and early relational therapies have been shown to improve outcomes in the next generation.<\/p>\n
In this way, culture, caregiving and connection are all biological interventions. When they soften the effects of earlier stress, they may help interrupt its transmission.<\/p>\n
Reframing inherited vulnerability<\/p>\n
This matters, because it changes how we understand inherited vulnerability.<\/p>\n
Rather than a permanent wound passed down through DNA, the effects of trauma are better understood as changeable responses shaped by context. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Agencies
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