Epigenetics explains how stress matters... even to the next generation

When I completed my undergrad degree in biology, much of what I studied reflected my desire to enter med school: honors genetics, neurology, and all the pre-med requirements. But what Dr. Bruce Lipton published a decade later threw much of what I learned about human cells out the window. I had been taught that our DNA, encoded in the nucleus, determined our fate. That was wrong.

What Bruce demonstrated, using stem cells, with the potential to become almost anything within the genetic code, is that the cellular environment is the “brains” deciding what pieces of DNA to activate. The interaction of the cell membrane is more important than the genes you may inherit. Apart from autosomal dominant (this means, the DNA code is quite insistent and always shows up) - we are adaptive and flexible. It truly matters the kind of environmental stressors our cells are exposed to.

We used to pay lip service to this possibility, assuming that stress could play a role in heart disease or autoimmune conditions. But this fact is crucial. If our genetic code gives us the predisposition to a certain disease, it’s often an encounter with something outside the cell - usually something like a toxin, a virus, or cortisol levels (the adrenaline that gets released within your own body when you’re stressed) - that creates the sequence for the illness. We knew this to be the case for entities like Type 1 Diabetes, or certain cancers that relate to a viral exposure (cervical and others). Now, it seems that there’s likely nothing more important than this cellular environment. With our external environment creating mounting stress, not to mention air or other kinds of pollution, this is something important from a public health perspective.

The major area where this matters is the knowing about intergenerational trauma, which is passed down from parent to child. We’ve seen first-hand how terrible violence and systemic discrimination can cause patterns in offspring, which was often presumed to be taught. Now we know that, even in children separated from the teachings of their parents, may have the same fears and anxieties. In social marginalization and attempted genocide of First Nations people in Canada, such horrors are carried forward in pain and the desire to numb from pain. If people understood more about epigenetics, they’d never suggest that someone could easily “let go” of the structural trauma. They’d know it’s encoded.

There are many ways to work with epigenetics in helpful ways. An understanding of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and tackling parenting can be useful.

Trauma work that addresses these patterns can also be of benefit. Daniel Foor PhD runs an Ancestral Medicine course online. The book “It Didn’t Start With You” helps anyone understand inherited patterns and recognize how to interrupt them. The author Mark Wollyn practices something called Family Constellations, which is a powerful way to enact and embody these patterns. Dr. Bruce Lipton is a proponent of an energy healing technique called Psych-K, which uses muscle testing to find out what the subconscious beliefs are - and a Whole-Brain posture to shift them. I can’t give you a medical opinion on any of these methods, but do wonder what more we will learn about our timeless interconnectedness.

There’s a great article outlining the scientific evidence and theories in the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190326-what-is-epigenetics

I believe that Dr. Lipton’s thesis, published in the BIology of Belief and featured on many podcasts and webinars since, should have dramatically changed the face of medical education and practice. Maybe it still will… it’s not like we have a predetermined fate!