Chronic stress during childhood disrupts mitochondrial function in neurons. However, an American team has shown in mice that it is possible to return to normal with antioxidant treatment. The research is rooted in the work of Isabelle Mansuy, whose lab investigates how early life traumas can leave lasting epigenetic marks in the brain. (article in French)

Pour la Science​

by Guillaume Jacquemont, 2025

The misnamed concept of intergenerational trauma assumes that suffering caused by extreme life events is biologically transmitted to the descendants of victims, although some experts question its mechanism.

(article in Spanish)

El País​

by Rodrigo Santodomingo, 2025

How much influence do we have on our genes? And how do lifestyle and environment shape our health, character, and physical characteristics? Epigenetics provides the answers.

​Sanitas Magazin.

by Jocelyne Iten, 2025

Many “therapists” claim to cure our suffering by examining the lives of our ancestors. The key lies in epigenetics, a rapidly growing scientific discipline. This is an overstatement of current knowledge—which is already fascinating enough...

​L'Express. Sciences.

by Stéphanie Benz, 2025

Researcher Isabelle Mansuy and psychologist Günter Reich explain what helps to cope with the consequences of trauma.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung

by Leon Engler, 2025

Traumatic experiences can lead to psychological problems across generations. What mechanisms are behind this?

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung

by Leon Engler, 2025

The atomic bombs dropped on Japan left physical and psychological scars that lasted for generations. How radiation, trauma, and resilience are connected—and what we can learn from this.

SRF

by Gina Buhl, 2025

A personal history of pinpricks of déjà vu: an exact turn of phrase, an absurdly specific expenditure.

The New Yorker 100

by Jessica Winter, 2025

An overwhelming experience "doesn't disappear when you die. It outlives you."

National Geographic | Science

by Andrea Cooper, 2025

When mice are traumatized, their offspring continue to show disturbed behaviour for generations. But can trauma also be inherited by humans? A study of Syrian refugees provides new clues. 

NZZ Am Sonntag

by Anna Weber, 2025

A study of three generations of Syrian refugees in Jordan finds a characteristic pattern of molecules in the descendants of victims of acts of war.

El Periódico

by Michele Catanzaro, 2025

In this interview, Isabelle Mansuy explains how trauma and stress can be passed down through generations, what she has learned from experiments with mice and why heart patients also need psychological care.
SonntagsBlick Magazin

by Katja Richard, 2024

The effects of traumatic events can be felt over several generations. Researchers have already shown that stress-related behavioral disorders can be passed on from rodents to their offspring.
Sciences et Avenir, 2024

A life-altering experience “doesn’t just die with you,” one expert says. “It has a life of its own afterwards.”
National Geographic

by Andrea Cooper, 2024

In this presentation, we explore the impact of trauma on our brains, body and behaviour, and assess the latest research in the field of epigenetics.
Peace River Center

by Donna Rininger, 2024

Isabelle Mansuy explores how life experiences alter the epigenome of an organism and its descendants.

Exploring Drug Discovery and Development

by Hannah Thomassy, 2023

Isabelle Mansuy’s neuroepigenetics lab researches the impact of life experiences and environmental factors on mental health, exploring if these impacts can be passed on to descendants.

Science and Nonduality

by Dom Byrne, 2023

The psychological devastation caused by war and catastrophes can still have a psychological impact on descendants. Epigeneticists are on the trail of the messengers of horror.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung

by Peter Spork, 2023

Belastende Erlebnisse beeinflussen Kinder und Kindeskinder. Forschung an Tieren bestätigt: Traumata können vererbt werden. Doch beim Menschen sind die Zusammenhänge vielschichtiger. Wir sind den Erfahrungen unserer Elterngeneration nicht hilflos ausgeliefert.

NZZ

by Fabienne Hübener, 2023

Kann ein Erlebnis wie die Bombennächte des Zweiten Weltkriegs Menschen beeinflussen, die diese nie erlebt haben, auf die zweite und dritte Generation nach dem Weltkrieg? Diesen Fragen gehen die Leipziger Psychologin Heide Glaesmer und die Schweizer Neurobiologin Isabelle Mansuy mit unterschiedlichen Ansätzen nach.

Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk

by Johanna Weinhold, 2023

Emotional trauma can have far-reaching consequences and even affect offspring. Professors Isabelle Mansuy and Katharina Gapp are researching how the consequences of trauma are inherited epigenetically.

My Science

by Fabio Bergamin, 2023

Wenn ein Trauma Generationen überdauert. 

Beobachter

by Anna Gielas, 2023

It is well-established that traumatic experiences can lead to various types of DNA modifications, both epigenetic and non-genetic, including DNA methylation, non-coding RNAs, and post-translational histone modifications. Recent evidence suggests that these modifications may be inherited by subsequent generations, even in the absence of direct exposure to the trauma. 

LIFENCY media, 2023

This article addresses the question of how trauma memories are transmitted and whether there are biological mechanisms that enable the transmission of this information beyond environmental upbringing.

Seattle Anxiety Specialists

by Theresa Nair, 2023

Emotional trauma can have far-reaching ripple effects and may even reverberate across generations. Professors Isabelle Mansuy and Katharina Gapp study how the effects of trauma can be inherited through epigenetic mechanisms.

Globe Magazine

by Fabio Bergamin, 2023

Neglect, calamitous events or even abuse: traumatic childhood experiences increase the risk of mental and physical illness and can lead to psychiatric disorders later in life. But how do stressful events early in life persistently affect brain functions? What happens in a child’s nerve cells when fear and stress overwhelm their normal coping mechanisms?

Swiss Science Today

by Christoph Elhardt, 2023

A team of researchers have identified a biological mechanism that enables traumatic experiences to be embedded in germ cells. Their study suggests that childhood trauma can embed signs in the blood and can be passed on to children and even grandchildren.

Easy DNA, 2022

Traumatische Erlebnisse bewirken Veränderungen im Gehirn, die zu psychischen Krankheiten führen können. Die Neurowissenschaftlerin Isabelle Mansuy erklärt, wie die sogenannte Neuroepigenetik neue Therapien hervorbringen könnte.

PPP&K, 2022

ELTERN-Autorin
Der Zürcher Professorin Isabelle Mansuy redet über abwesende Mäuseväter, vererbbare Zähigkeit und grünen Tee.

Eltern

by Kerstin Güntzel, 2021

Interview mit Prof. Dr. Isabelle Mansuy, Institut für Hirnforschung der Universität Zürich und Institut für Neurowissenschaften der ETH Zürich.

Wiley Analytical Science Magazine

by Corinna Herbst, 2021

Ein Attentat, eine Vergewaltigung, Folter, Krieg, Vertreibung: Traumatische Erlebnisse können nicht nur durch ein verändertes Verhalten weitergegeben werden, sondern auch durch Vererbung. Darauf deuten Versuche mit Mäusen hin.

Planet Wissen

by Martina Janning, 2021

We don't have to pass down everything we inherit.

Psychology Today

by Elizabeth Dixon, 2021

People who live through traumatic experiences in childhood often suffer long-lasting consequences that affect their mental and physical health. But moreover, their children and grandchildren can also be impacted as well.

Buruda Biliyorum, 2020

People who live through traumatic experiences in childhood often suffer long-lasting consequences that affect their mental and physical health. Their children and grandchildren can be affected as well. The big question is how signals triggered by traumatic events are embedded in germ cells.

Genetic Literacy Project

by Rita Ziegler, 2020

New Study Sheds Light On How Childhood Trauma Is Passed Down Generations.

IFLScience, 2020

Brain researchers from Zurich have discovered that people with trauma pass their health problems on to their offspring through blood.

Generations.

Archyde, 2020

People who experienced childhood trauma usually suffer lifelong consequences that impact their physical and mental health. And besides this, the children and grand-children of such individuals may also be affected as well.

AZO Life Sciences, 2020

Early childhood trauma has an impact on glucose metabolism and blood composition, which are passed on to the next generation.

Neuroscience News, 2020

TPeople who live through traumatic experiences in childhood often suffer long-lasting consequences that affect their mental and physical health. But moreover, their children and grand-children can also be impacted as well. The big question is how the signals triggered by traumatic events become embedded in germ cells.

Technology Networks, 2020

Kann man sich mit viel Gemüse und grünem Tee genetisch umprogrammieren? Gar nicht so abwegig, wenn man Isabelle Mansuy glauben darf. Im Interview mit »Spektrum.de« erklärt Isabelle Mansuy, wie die Ernährung Spuren am Erbgut hinterlässt und was das für die Enkelkinder bedeuten kann. 

Spektrum

by Frederik Jötten, 2020

Ein Kindheitstrauma führt bei Mäusen und Menschen zur Veränderung von Blutfaktoren, wie eine Studie des UZH-Instituts für Hirnforschung zeigt. Diese potenziell gesundheitsschädlichen Effekte übertragen sich im Mausmodell auch auf die Nachkommen. Die Forschenden identifizierten einen biologischen Mechanismus, durch den die traumatischen Erfahrungen in die Keimbahn eingebettet werden.

Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (UZH)

by Rita Ziegler, 2020

Paranüsse, Parmesan und Brokkoli: Forscherin Isabelle Mansuy rät zu einer Diät, die unser Erbgut positiv beeinflussen soll. Ihre Thesen sind umstritten.

Berliner Zeitung

by Frederik Jötten, 2020

Higgs

by Katrin Schregenberger, 2020

Studies in mice show how

Suffering triggers changes in gene expression that last for generations

Science

by Andrew Curry, 2019