It seems that science is nowhere near ceasing to amaze us. A recent study by "a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia" has identified evidence of environmental effects being demonstrable in human DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA is not a new subject. The recent news has featured various instances of DNA providing leads in criminal cases. See Science, the Right to Privacy, and Big Brother (June 2018). But this recent news is not about using DNA to link a person to an event or another person. This is about human cells marking events, and perhaps potentially implicating descendants.
In Child abuse leaves ‘molecular scars’ on victims, study finds, the Times of Israel reports that this British Columbia study involved a small group, 34 adult men. Of these, some "had been victims of child abuse years earlier." That included "varying levels of emotional, physical or sexual abuse." The scientists found alterations to the DNA, called methylation. According to news-medical.net, methylation is an "epigenetic signaling tool" that influences a variety of "cellular processes" in the body. When a particular DNA strand is "methylated, the result can be the inappropriate silencing of genes such as tumor suppression genes."
The news-medical.net discussion suggests that methylation is "vital to healthy growth and development," and may protect against "potentially dangerous sequences of DNA" which are present in the person. This has been the subject of research regarding "cancer and tumor suppressor genes." Hypermethylation is hypothesized to potentially impede body response and thus could "lead to spread of cancer." Not being a scientist, this leads me to conclude methylation is a normal and necessary process, and when it goes too far, that poses a risk to the body.
In the British Columbia study, researchers found that "effects of the trauma were indelibly printed in 12 regions of the DNA." The normal methylation process produced evidence or indicia. Men who "had experienced varying levels of emotional, physical or sexual abuse" retained evidence of that experience on their DNA. The article explains that genes might be thought of similarly to light bulbs, and the methylation "controls how strong each light is." The researchers see this indicia of prior experiences as potentially aiding "investigators or courts to weigh allegations of child abuse." This is intriguing, that events, emotions, and traumas can leave evidence on the very building blocks of our person.
The study concludes that genes are not "entirely pre-programmed from conception." Instead, the contention is that some are "activated or deactivated by environmental factors or an individual’s life experience" ("varying levels of emotional, physical or sexual abuse"). This suggests that emotional reactions to our environment may be evidenced by the appearance of our individual DNA.
Certainly, that is the focus of this current study on abuse victims. However, it is DNA evidence of the influence of the environment. There has long been a "debate within psychology" regarding the "extent to which particular aspects of behavior are a product of either inherited (i.e. genetic) or acquired (i.e. learned) characteristics. See Nature vs. Nurture in Psychology. Thus, the potential to corroborate environmental (emotional or physical) events is reasonably noteworthy. This may be in support of "what" we each are, but also potentially "why" we are as we are. Researchers see potential for "the development of tests that could be used by healthcare workers or potentially even as forensic evidence.”
The implications in criminal law and psychology generally are easy enough to envision. However, how could this be implicated in the cause-and-effect disputes that so permeate fields like personal injury litigation and workers' compensation? The ability to document from DNA when some emotional or physical event(s) occurred could potentially influence the determinations of causation of either physical or emotional complaints. Is it possible that determining the onset of psychological complaints could be substantiated or challenged with accuracy using this methodology? Is it possible that a person's DNA might support the existence of emotional distress, for which damages are sought?
The implications in criminal law and psychology generally are easy enough to envision. However, how could this be implicated in the cause-and-effect disputes that so permeate fields like personal injury litigation and workers' compensation? The ability to document from DNA when some emotional or physical event(s) occurred could potentially influence the determinations of causation of either physical or emotional complaints. Is it possible that determining the onset of psychological complaints could be substantiated or challenged with accuracy using this methodology? Is it possible that a person's DNA might support the existence of emotional distress, for which damages are sought?
And, there is a suggestion that the presence of these effects in DNA perhaps means that environmental events occurring in one generation might be passed to another. In the field of personal injury litigation, could that potentially result in damages being sought both on behalf of a person who suffered an event, but also some other set of damages sought on behalf of a descendant? There are a multitude of questions that are raised. For example how long might such a process involve (imagine a young child experiencing an environmental trauma and then reproducing perhaps 15 years or more in the future, passing that DNA methylation to another generation). And, what are the implications for lasting transfer, might that child's child (grandchild of the person who experienced the event) also receive and maintain that altered DNA, albeit in some combination with other inherited effects?
For now, this research is limited to male subjects. The hypothesis is that similar changes will also eventually be identified and documented in females. The Times reports that testing will have additional hurdles and thus costs associated. Therefore, it may be this line of scientific inquiry proceeds only with male studies in the near term.
For now, this research is limited to male subjects. The hypothesis is that similar changes will also eventually be identified and documented in females. The Times reports that testing will have additional hurdles and thus costs associated. Therefore, it may be this line of scientific inquiry proceeds only with male studies in the near term.
It is certainly too soon to predict where this might lead. One source quoted by the Times of Israel concludes that "it is possible that epigenetic changes in sperm cells play a role in the physical and mental health of the next generation." It is possible that the debate of nature v. nurture is not as clear-cut as was once believed. It is possible that some of your nature is the result of your parent's or perhaps other ancestor's nurture, or lack of it. These are intriguing times indeed.
