My Dna Results but How Will They Match up to My Study of Genetic Memory?

Now here's the thing. Millions of us have sent away for DNA kits to check their DNA.

What with Ancestry, MyHeritage and 23andme, there are lots to choose from. They are all pretty much the same, but I chose MyHeritage because it had just been updated and had a lot of good reviews.

I am adding one more step that not many people seem to think about.

Science is beginning to realise that not only do we pass on genes from our parents and grandparents such things as the shape of our noses, and our face,etc, they now believe that its possible to pass on memories from one generation to another.

And it definitely makes sense.

Why?

Let's take a look at the study before we go any further. According to the scientific blurb, genetic memory is:

Psychology states that genetic memory is a memory that is present at birth, that exists in the absence of sensory experience. But is just incorporated into the genome over long periods of time.

In plain English this merely means that when a baby is born it is a clean slate mentally. But if genetic memory proves to be true, then that baby will have the memories, or maybe just one memory of an ancestor already filed away in his/her brain.

We already know that on the basis of instinct for example, children automatically know how to suck milk, cry when it needs a nappy/diaper change and when he or she is tired.

In a sense that is genetic memory.

But what we are talking about here is the possibility that maybe baby can 'see' a memory while dreaming, that has been passed down from an ancestor. For example;

A baby dreams of being on a ship, or driving a car. Of course we would never know they are doing that. And after the baby is born there is so much outside stimuli that it would soon be overlooked and just scrambled if you like, with his/her other memories.

But what if....?

Scientists have always believed that memories must be made. Mothers teach their children to read and write, what to eat and so on. Throughout or lives we are constantly learning.

But now scientists do believe that some memories or information can be inherited biologically through the chemical changes in our DNA.

In fact many now believe that is where our phobias come from. Evidently according to scientific study, this is caused by a genetic switch that may cause it to 'stick'.

Talking about sticking, I have always believed it was possible that we do inherit memories, but I couldn't understand how or why.

Why just one particular memory? What made that one special over any other memory?

Then I had a thought. And it turned out that the scientists agreed with me!

I thought about it for a while and came up with one conclusion. Whenever we have a strong memory, its usually followed by a particular chemical flooding our body.

Adrenalin.

Whether its grief, happiness, laughter, fright or just spotting something that is so amazing, we stand back in awe. Adrenalin. It floods our bodies, acting like the glue that will stick that particular memory in your mind forever. Sometimes its a sequence of events, other times it can be a snapshot of something. And we don't always realise it until later when its stuck in our memory.

And scientists tend to agree with me! Or should I say, me with them!

Long story short we now know that it is possible to pass on memories.

Of course its not possible to remember something from a person who was old.

Why?

Because if you are remembering something your grandmother did, it will have to be before your mother was born, so that the memory can be passed on through the baby.

Well, let me explain.

Over the years I have had some really vivid dreams. And most of them concern things and places that I have never ever been too. And more to the point I find myself doing stuff that I would never have thought of.

For a very long time I did wonder if I was experiencing reincarnation. The dreams that I was having were so real.

And in fact, some so bizarre that there was no way this side of hell I could possibly have read it, seen it or experienced it.

So genetic memory seemed to make more sense. Unless of course reincarnation is totally real and I am barking up the wrong tree!

We shall see.

I won't bore you by going into deep detail about certain dreams that I have had over the years. As we all know, everyone dreams. But some dreams are much more real than others. And more to the point we remember them for years. These are the main ones that seem to have that extra special sparkle to them. Such as feeling, seeing, tasting and hot and cold.

• I am in a cold country. There are tiny shops rather like in the alps when you go skiing. I walk around the shops buying ornaments and jewelry. Behind the shops are huge mountains. As I walk towards them I can feel the cold emanating from them. The rock is slate grey but glistening with ice. Its cold.
• I am in India, walking through a market. I am an Indian lady. I am going to buy cloth and needles to sew and knit. I can see a wall which is overlooking the city. There is a man with an elephant, he is putting a rug on its back. It has tassels and a painted face.
• I am Jewish. I am on a cart with other women being pulled by horses. We are going to a house. It has to be secret because we are not well liked around there. As we enter the house I can see a wall to my left that has a basket hanging from it, and it has a sort of hard flat bread in it, in slices. On the table are candles and food. There are men there. I am wearing a long skirt, with two belts? or maybe one belt tied round twice, and a scarf tying my hair back. I can smell the food.

There are other dreams too, but I can't pinpoint the exact area. Its always hot, there is the sea and beach. Not modern.

And there are other real type dreams but I can't say where or when, so I will leave them out.

So quick review.

Cold country, maybe alps? India shopping in market, and a Jewish meeting that has to be secret. Feels like 19th century but maybe later.

Now to wait for the DNA results!

I received an email on the 1st of March stating it would take another week to get the results. So the next day I never bothered to check the email till later in the day, and guess what? There they were! Obviously finished early!

You can see from the photo below all my results. One thing you have to realize is that when you get your DNA results back they are just basic in MyHeritage Ancestry and 23andme. To get in depth info you need to down load them to Gedmatch. (see link below )

What is Gedmatch?

Its a site where you download your dna results and they then can pull it to pieces to find out exactly where you come from after receiving the basic results from MyHeritage etc. Check out link.

How to download your DNA to Gedmatch made simple.

As you can see, its pretty straight forward. Obviously lots of north west. England etc. But as you can see there is even an Indian chromosome floating around in there!

So, a big tick for:

Jewish - Middle East -Iranian Jewish, Iraqi Jewish, Levant etc

West and east Mediterranean. Hot weather by coast.

Indian - South Asian....Yes I know its only tiny, but its there!

And last but not least.....

As it shows above. Norway and Sweden.

There is the Middle eastern one there too. Which I later found out to be in the Iranian hills.

Which is totally super cool!

Yes I know what you are thinking. Did I know these results through my family lines?

No, never. In fact as far as I knew we were 100 % English! The thing is, we had a missing grandfather. We had no idea who he was.

He swept in, got my gran in the family way, and disappeared. So when it turned out that I am over 15 % percent Norwegian or Swedish, that was one hell of a shock!

The Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia was also confusing. Until a friend on facebook said;

'I bet you are Jewish! get onto Gedmatch!'

So I did. And I was.

Its fantastic. What I didn't say about the Jewish was, apart from dreaming it, I go to the Kotel site (Wailing wall) webcam most nights to calm my brain down before bed, after being on here most of the day!

Genetic memory huh? Who would have thought!

So what do you think? Genetic Memory? Or just a pie in the sky dream?

You decide!

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