In a groundbreaking discovery, an international team of researchers convened by molecular biologist Rana Dajani of Hashemite University in Jordan has found evidence that trauma’s genetic imprint can be inherited.

Published in Scientific Reports on February 27, the study included Catherine Panter-Brick from Yale University, who designed trauma surveys, and Connie Mulligan from the University of Florida, who conducted the epigenetic analysis.

This kind of research has long been confined to animal studies, as recreating such conditions in humans would be unethical. 

But the dark side of history made the experiment of intergenerational trauma possible.

For decades, Syrians have endured relentless cycles of violence, from the 1982 Hama massacre to the conflict that erupted in 2011 and stretched over 13 years. The devastation provided a rare and tragic habitat to study trauma’s biological legacy on a human scale.

For Dajani, a Syrian-Palestinian descendant of refugee, the research is deeply personal, revolutionary, besides being a reclamation of gaze that has been reversed, empirically.

“This idea came from a Syrian-Palestinian scientist, who is a daughter of refugees,” she told TRT World. 

“Usually, scientists are from the West, and they come to our parts of the world. In this example, this is different. The scientist was from the community, from the local community, and because of the science and the knowledge of the community, I was able to ask a very important scientific question.”

That question had never been pursued before: Could the horrors of violence be inscribed into the genes of future generations?

After years of data collection, DNA analysis and lab research, the answer was more revealing than anyone imagined.

Tracing trauma through DNA

Epigenetics—the study of changes in gene expression that do not alter DNA sequences but are influenced by environment and experience—suggests that trauma leaves a molecular fingerprint.

Typically, when a new generation is born, previous epigenetic markers are wiped clean, allowing cells to start fresh. But Dajani’s research reveals otherwise.

Her team collected cheek swabs from 131 participants spanning 48 families, which were then analysed at the University of Florida.

Their study grouped subjects into three categories:

1. Grandmothers who experienced trauma during pregnancy in the 1982 Hama massacre, their daughters, and granddaughters.

2. Grandmothers who were not in Hama during the 1982 massacre, but whose daughters were exposed to the 2011 Syrian uprising.

3. Syrian families who had left Syria before 1982 (some as early as 1925), including grandmothers, daughters, and granddaughters.

   Additionally, two siblings were studied within each family, with one granddaughter born before the 2011 uprising and one born after, allowing for direct comparisons within families.

Resilience rises from intergenerational trauma

After seven years of meticulous research, the team uncovered significant findings.

Through DNA samples, they identified 21 sites on the genome that displayed a trauma signature resulting from direct exposure, different from the 14 sites identified in the indirect exposure found in grandchildren.

The most striking discovery was that fetuses exposed to trauma in the womb showed signs of accelerated epigenetic aging. The team found that trauma not only affected the pregnant mother and her unborn child but also the developing reproductive cells within the fetus. 

Since fetal cells divide rapidly, they are more vulnerable to environmental influences, including trauma.

“And this is so important because today, when we look at Gaza, there are thousands, tens of thousands of pregnant women exposed to the genocide unfolding,” Dajani said.

However, the function of 14 remains unknown.

As Dajani explained, these sites were not linked to depression or other known negative biological pathways. “What does that mean? These pathways are not activated by depression or other negative markers,” she added.

Despite this, Dajani believes these unidentified sites may be connected to higher regulatory functions that could offer hope for the future.

This raises an intriguing possibility: Could these unidentified sites be associated with resilience rather than vulnerability?

“Because they haven’t been identified, they likely play a role in higher regulation,” Dajani said. “Through evolution, humanity has always endured war. We survive, we thrive, we flourish.”

While Dajani cannot yet scientifically confirm that trauma leads to genetic changes that foster resilience in future generations, the findings strongly suggest that this might be the case—though further experiments are needed to confirm these signs.

Not victims as colonisers’ portrayal

Dajani is keenly aware of the broader implications of her work. She links the findings of resilience to the way Western science has historically portrayed Eastern societies. 

She argues that this research challenges the idea that trauma permanently renders communities vulnerable, offering a more nuanced understanding of resilience in the face of adversity.

“This is very important,” she said, “because Western science has always portrayed people who have been exposed to trauma and their descendants as victims and being vulnerable. And probably the real reason they are victims and vulnerable is because of the structural barriers set up by the coloniser, or the inequality, or the racism, or the apartheid.”

Her use of the word “coloniser” is deliberate—a challenge to the traditional narrative.  

“So this negative attitude—that trauma makes you a victim—is a very colonising idea. They make wars, and then they tell us we’re victims. And they want to come and save us, which is today’s colonisation through humanitarian aid and development.”

These frameworks have been long used in understanding the fundamental distortion through which the colonised see themselves and their place in the world. Through dehumanisation, epistemic trauma inflicts a deep psychological and emotional wound, the effects of which linger long after colonial rule has ended.

But for Dajani, science and empirical data reveals something deeper.

“Now, because of biology, we can say: It is not the biology that makes them victims, it is the structural barriers.”

Her work emphasises the importance of changing perceptions: "If we adopt that approach, which requires us to decolonise our minds, that we are not victims, and then we can work together across the world to tear down the structural barriers that prevent us from having equality and allow us to get out of poverty, out of war, out of inequality and injustice."

She argues that the findings point to something more hopeful.

"It's not in our DNA to be victims; in our DNA, as part of evolution, we can survive, thrive, and flourish and stand up against adversity in future generations because we are adaptable as a species. We have agency to make choices going forward."

Can research help deliver justice in Syria?

The potential applications of this research extend beyond academia, even in cases of trauma emanating from domestic violence, Dajani said.

Besides, it can be applied to the political sphere too. With the fall of Assad’s regime in December 2024, a door has opened for accountability in Syria. Dajani believes that science can play a role in this process.

“Now this biological evidence can be used in a court of law to hold the perpetrators responsible for the atrocities that they have done.”

For Dajani, the purpose of science is clear. believes that the findings from this research could be used beyond academia, offering a powerful tool for justice in Syria. 

“This is a new frontier where science can not only uncover the truth but also contribute to accountability and justice, but this would fall into the area beyond scientists.

For Dajani, the purpose of science is to serve humanity: "Any scientist needs to do science because we want to benefit humanity." 

Her message extends to a call for greater global responsibility: "It’s ringing a bell to wake up the whole world that we need to do better as humans. We need to protect humanity, that everybody is equal, not some are more equal than others.