Researchers from Tel Aviv University have found that small RNA molecules of hereditary material are able to transfer acquired memories from the nerve cells to the sex cells and from there to future generations. The research was published tonight, 6.6.19 in the journal Cell
Researchers in the laboratory of Prof. Oded Ravavi from the School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Segol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University have shown that changes in nerve cells that control the behavior and memory of worms are passed on to future generations through licensed molecules called small RNAs or sRNA. Research is of great importance in deciphering the mechanisms of epigenetics - the inheritance of acquired traits that are not coded in DNA.
The research was led by doctoral students Rachel Posner and Iti Toker in the laboratory of Prof. Ravavi. The article will be published on 6.6.19 in the prestigious journal Cell.
"Can traits acquired during life be inherited to the next generation? "This question has been controversial among scientists for almost 200 years," says Prof. Ravavi. "As of today, one of the most common organisms for research on the subject is a tiny, transparent worm called C. elegans, which has been a leading research model: no fewer than 6 Nobel Prizes have been awarded for research on this worm since 2000."
Prof. Ravavi and his group discovered in previous studies that the worms are able to pass on to their offspring, over many generations, two traits acquired during life: resistance against a virus, and a memory of starvation. This means that, contrary to the concepts that have dominated research for decades, heredity does not only pass through the known and unchanging path of DNA, but also through other paths, which are able to pass on acquired traits to the offspring. Prof. Ravavi explains: "We found that the resistance to the virus and the memory of the nutritional status of the parents are transmitted
Descendants through RNA inheritance - or more precisely sRNA molecules - small RNA molecules, which are able to move and transfer hereditary information from cell to cell. The role of these molecules is to cause the genes in the DNA to be expressed in the right way and in the right place in the body (for example: although the DNA code is the same in all cells, vision genes are expressed in the eye, and genes responsible for knee function are expressed in the knee)."
"The pea of epigenetic inheritance"
In the current study, the researchers took another step forward, and asked to examine whether a memory encoded during life in the nerve cells of the brain can also be inherited to future generations using small RNA molecules. To do this, they returned to the worms: they created worms that do not produce sRNA molecules of a certain type called endo-siRNA, and due to this deficiency they are unable, among other things, to follow the smell to find food. Later they returned the ability to produce endo-siRNA exclusively to the nervous system, and indeed, the ability to locate food returned to them as well. They also found that the endo-siRNA molecules produced in the nerve cells also reach other tissues in the worm's body, and influence gene expression there as well.
"The important question at this stage was: are the endo-siRNA molecules, which in these worms are produced in the nerve cells only, able to pass to the sex cells as well, and from there to future generations?" Prof. Ravavi says. And the resounding answer was: Yes! The offspring of those worms, whose DNA does not produce endo-siRNA molecules, inherited the missing trait from their parents, and knew how to recognize food by smell and move towards it.
"Inheritance other than through changes in the DNA sequence is called epigenetics, and the field has gained a lot of momentum in research in recent years," concludes Prof. Ravavi. "In our research, we took an important step towards a deeper understanding of the processes and mechanisms of epigenetics. We do not yet know if the process we discovered also occurs in humans, but if so, our discoveries may have far-reaching implications. More than a century ago, scientists discovered how genetic inheritance through DNA works through research on peas and flies. We hope that the worm we are investigating is the pea of epigenetic inheritance."
12 תגובות
Lorem Ipsum,
When I started reading your first comment, "Well, who is responsible for this wonderful process? [...] There is only one correct answer, of course", I thought you were a religious person who wants to tell us that everything is responsible... God. Well, it turned out that this is not your case.
But, on the other hand, I do indeed see in you a resemblance, quite a lot, to a religious man. For some reason you defend, and attack little by little. Something in this article threw you off balance, put you on the defensive. You sonnet the researchers ("I suggest that the scientists stop chatting..."). Why does this threaten you?
Roy, I did not understand most of your claims.
In any case, I am not a "professional" biologist, and one can assume that no one will finance a laboratory for me so that I can work "for the sake of obtaining knowledge". In addition, my unique nickname is no more vague than a generic first name, of which there are several thousand in Israel.
A significant part of the conversation deals with the same matter but from different aspects and they also do not describe the issue of awareness in the material world which is the condition for the discourse to exist.
Borrowing from technology - server-side DNA versus client-side RNA
It is very logical that these are two so-called independent technologies
And with the fact that these are two different languages, or even more,
But both work synergistically in the form of interfacing
And in any case - even if it is the same language - there is a difference
The existence between hardware and software. and programming. on all kinds of levels.
And a word on the subject of Nettikt - Lorem Ipsum - who is hiding behind such a vague expression. Those who want to be knowledgeable do not claim ownership of the knowledge but work to obtain it, and spread the truths they have acquired for the sake of future generations.
Igal,
Both Noam and I agree that what is responsible for the epigenetic mechanism, if only implicitly, is the DNA. Noam claims that this is obvious, and still important. I agree that it is indeed important, but it is not at all clear from all the discussions about "epigenetics" here and elsewhere on the Israeli network.
Then more commenters come and demonstrate my argument.
The big story here is the proof that this is not a process of natural selection nor mutations. This is the empirical strength for the theory of epigenetics.
It may be worth a Nobel Prize.
Epigenetics does pass from the mother to the child through the junk called food that you buy in the supermarket and then an autistic child comes out, this is crimes against babies
Not a professional, but from observation, I see distinct traits passed down from grandfather to granddaughter who didn't even know him (born years after he died).
The word "worms" is missing in the title, it has not yet been proven that this inherited mechanism also works in humans
Sensational research. Another and important layer to the evolutionary theory.
Hello. As a reader who is not in the profession, I try to understand the differences in your perceptions. The title of the article is: "A mechanism has been deciphered that allows the inheritance of brain activity from generation to generation - not through DNA". Would it be correct to write...inheritance of brain activity from generation to generation - without change in DNA? That is: the DNA as a master program includes information for the production of transfer methods that are not stored in itself, but on other sites?
Lorem Ipsum, I did not understand your intention.
It is clear that the mechanism of transferring the epigenetic information is itself a genetic mechanism encoded in DNA, and it was created and improved over many generations by natural selection in DNA. All this does not detract from the importance of the research on this mechanism, which works in symbiosis with the genetic information, and enables rapid adaptations to the environment by controlling different expressions of the DNA.
Well, and who is responsible for this wonderful process? To produce the memory of starvation and the war against the virus? Who is responsible for producing the appropriate RNA molecules? Send them to the sex cells and make sure that they will actually take them in and not break them down like they do (?) have to break down some virus? Interpret these molecules in the offspring in the appropriate brain cells and activate body systems accordingly, in the right way?
There is only one correct answer, of course: the DNA.
It must be remembered that this simple worm probably appeared around the time of the Cambrian explosion, over half a billion years ago, and since then it has had more than enough time to improve, develop and refine all its survival mechanisms. It is clear that for a creature with such a short lifespan (about three weeks) the transfer of memory about an enemy virus, which is still lurking there in the puddle, is essential for the survival of the offspring. It has not been explained what the evolutionary advantage of the starving male is, but it can be assumed that it causes a behavioral change large enough for a scientist to observe. It's all an evolutionary advantage encoded in DNA.
So I suggest that scientists stop talking about epigenetics, take a seat, go back to the lab and find the genes responsible for this evolutionary miracle. It can be assumed that they will also find some other messages that Hesi Elganes is able to pass on to his descendants.