Down here at the pawn shop

[Lamplighter]

Ummmm.....I'm not so sure.

Such "stress" would have to specifically affect the DNA of a person's sperm or egg cells,
not their somatic cells, for inheritance to take place, and even then
inheritance would happen only rarely and randomly
... in a comparatively miniscule number of pregnancies.

When the stress of pregnancies during the severe starvation and war time conditions
at Stalingrad during WWII was investigated for birth defects, the effects could not be shown.

I think UT's emphasis on "culture" is important, not in the food/water sense of "nurture",
but in the overall sense of societal support and traditions.
Unfortunately, some of those traditions are not always beneficial to the individual.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Ummmm.....I'm not so sure.

Such "stress" would have to specifically affect the DNA of a person's sperm or egg cells,
not their somatic cells, for inheritance to take place, and even then
inheritance would happen only rarely and randomly
... in a comparatively miniscule number of pregnancies.

When the stress of pregnancies during the severe starvation and war time conditions
at Stalingrad during WWII was investigated for birth defects, the effects could not be shown.

I think UT's emphasis on "culture" is important, not in the food/water sense of "nurture",
but in the overall sense of societal support and traditions.
Unfortunately, some of those traditions are not always beneficial to the individual.

As I remember the (I think it was a National Geographic video about Sapolsky's work) video stated that the researchers followed the children who were born of those pregnant mothers and those children had inherited the changed DNA in their somatic cells. Perhaps it was only a change that was passed on to fetuses. I don't recall if the children of the starvation victims then had children with the changed DNA.

Maybe I have to watch it again and take better notes, drink less beer, or fewer beers.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

When the stress of pregnancies during the severe starvation and war time conditions
at Stalingrad during WWII was investigated for birth defects, the effects could not be shown.

Changes in DNA are not birth defects.