Prof. Oded Rechavi of Tel Aviv University explains how microscopic worms are helping to reveal the secrets of epigenetic inheritance – including a global grant to recreate historical experiments
Our guest's groundbreaking research this time focuses on C. elegans worms, microscopic organisms that serve as a key model in biological sciences due to their simple structure and rapid reproduction rate. With their help, Prof. Oded Rechavi investigates how environmental information, such as exposure to various stresses, is passed from generation to generation via small RNA molecules, creating a "molecular memory" that lasts for many generations.
In the podcast, we delved into the field of epigenetics, where Prof. Rechavi makes a significant contribution, and examined how environmental experiences, and even brain activity, affect gene expression in subsequent generations without changing the DNA sequence. We saw how his findings illuminate the connection between heredity, biological learning, and intergenerational memory. We also heard about the prestigious $1.2 million grant he received, which combines biology and history, to reconstruct epigenetic inheritance studies from the early 20th century by the Vienna Institute for Experimental Biology (BVA).
Listen to another podcast from "Tel Aviv 360", the largest and most diverse science podcast in Israel, hosted by Vered Levkowitz.
