4 ms·

WTF is "generational memory"?

• dekhn 6y ago
  the idea would be that learned behavior which is not genetically encoded is instead passed down in the form of specifically structured information molecules.
• macawfish 6y ago
  A lot of biologists these days use "generational memory" to refer to epigenetic configurations that are heritable, but in the context of my comment I was using it more to refer generally to information that is typically modified over multigenerational timescales. My point was to frame RNA as a kind of intermediary between longer term and shorter term mediums of memory. So as an simplified analogy, the DNA would be like a dictionary of common words that could be used to encode a meaningful story about something the organism has experienced. The RNA would be like the handwritten copy of each word as the story is written down on a piece of paper. The paper with the handwritten story is analogous to the proteins that have been shown numerous times to be involved in long term memory storage and recall.