Huberman Lab
--% time saved
Loading episode data...
Original episode
PodcastHuberman Lab
Publisher/creatorScicomm Media
Published
Shortcast updated
Listen to the original episode
About this episode
In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, my guest is Dr. Oded Rechavi, a professor at Tel Aviv University who studies genetics, epigenetics and the inheritance of acquired traits. We discuss how DNA, RNA and epigenetic mechanisms determine what information can pass between generations, and why acquired traits are generally not thought to be inherited. We also explain research in C. elegans showing how small RNAs can transmit antiviral resistance and influence behavior across generations, what these findings might mean for mammals and humans, and potential future applications for reproductive health and diagnostics.
Thank you to our sponsors
AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman
Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/huberman
LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Oded Rechavi
(00:00:24) DNA, Genome, RNA & Proteins
(00:03:43) Somatic vs. Germ Cells; Inheritance
(00:06:05) Sponsor: Eight Sleep
(00:07:23) Lamarck vs. Darwin, Inheritance of Acquired Traits
(00:09:45) Weismann Barrier, Epigenetic Reprogramming
(00:13:05) RNA & Transgenerational Inheritance
(00:13:54) Model Organisms, C. elegans
(00:16:59) Inheritance of Acquired Traits in C. elegans
(00:17:14) Sponsor: AG1
(00:18:40) RNA Interference, Small RNAs & Gene Silencing
(00:22:46) Viral Resistance Across Generations
(00:24:53) Small RNAs, Mammals & Inherited Effects
(00:26:00) Brain Activity, Memory & Heritable Information
(00:28:46) Neuronal Small RNAs & Behavior Across Generations
(00:29:59) Germ Cells, Development & Heritable RNA
(00:31:29) Sponsor: LMNT
(00:33:11) Future Applications, Exercise, IVF & RNA Diagnostics
(00:35:16) Acknowledgements
Disclaimer & Disclosures
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episode summary
This AI-generated Shortcast summary may omit nuance. Use the original episode when context or exact wording matters.
Welcome to Huberman Lab Essentials. I’m Andrew Huberman, and I want to ask Dr. Oded Rechavi why we inherit eye color but not what our parents learned—and whether experience can leave a biological trace for descendants.
DNA is instruction material; the full collection is the genome. Think IKEA catalog: each cell has the whole book but copies relevant instructions. Messenger RNA is the working copy; protein is the furniture.
So the major distinction is between somatic cells and germ cells—sperm and egg—that make the next generation?
Yes. If I learn architecture, that information is in brain circuits, not normally my germ cells. If I build muscle, my children still have to work out. The Weismann barrier separates them, and most chemical marks are erased between generations so development begins from the inherited genetic plan.
Lamarck’s giraffe story differs from natural selection favoring giraffes born with longer necks.
Exactly. RNA is a candidate for carrying information across generations. In C. elegans, acquired effects pass onward clearly, and generations take three days.
Small RNAs can silence matching genes by destroying messenger RNA. Worms inherit virus-matching small RNAs from infected parents, even when offspring cannot make them, and those RNAs help cut up the virus.
But an artificial RNA injection is far from an ordinary lived experience becoming heritable.
Right. In our 2019 work, altering small RNAs only in a worm’s brain changed descendants’ food-finding behavior for three generations. We traced it through germ cells and RNA-transfer machinery. In humans, this is not established.
It’s been a pleasure. Thank you for taking us from genome and RNA to worms, inheritance, and open questions.
Ready to save time?
Download Shortcast and get started today