It is said, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”. While this isn’t one of Newton’s discoveries, it does reflect society’s understanding of evolution.

Whether it’s the sharp ridge of your mother’s nose that gives you your untamed beauty, the sheer self-confidence that you inherited from your father, or even the way your child enunciates the syllables of a word with echoes of an ancestor; the sound of your voice which stirs nostalgia in your father’s mind, bringing memories of his mother to the surface and bringing him to tears; the curious way a father and son share an extraordinary sense of smell to distinct scents, we are all deeply connected.

Maybe the birthmark you hide in secret places mirrors a conspicuous mark your favorite cousin has in your extended family, we are all, indeed, the same, emerging from the same tree of personalities, physical traits, and intelligence.

These similarities are not merely a shallow framework of the social evolution of our species,

I believe they are more complex than that.

Depending on where you come from, it may be the cautious weaving and twisting of fate, the unseen puppeteer holding the strings of our fragile life, or God, in his intimate knowledge molding the proverbial clay in His glorious pottery yard. 

This poses the question: Are we the essence of our ancestors? Are they living through us? Can humans truly experience reincarnation?

So it seems. We don’t have the answers to anything, we just have crumbs.

In my curiosity, I stumbled upon a “crumb”, a study by an American neuroscientist Bianca Jones Marlin who posits a theory that sheds light on the questions asked earlier and which I am about to limply explain: “Any change in the structure of the DNA of any mammal across generations is caused by the impact of the experiences of their ancestors”.

In essence, the experiences of a parent especially traumatic ones can leave biological imprints on an offspring. 

In an experiment to prove this, she mapped and targeted the genome of mice specifically the olfactory sensors -since mice rely on their sense of smell to navigate the world- and placed them in an environment where she exposed them to the scent of almond while simultaneously administering a mild foot shock. Over time, the mice learned to associate the scent with discomfort. 

It was later observed that something changed inside the mice’s noses; the cells that responded to the almond scent multiplied to adapt to their experience with the environment.

Subsequent reports from her experiment show that the changes in olfactory perception persisted in the next generation. The offspring of these mice, despite never experiencing the foot shock themselves, exhibited a heightened sense of almond scent.

This remarkable discovery reveals that there’s a memory that’s somehow maintained in reproduction, influencing behaviors and mannerisms in offspring.

Having a developed cell passed down to an offspring is nothing short of an evolutionary miracle.

“It’s like observing a change in evolution over a time span of one generation,” she curiously said. 

The subtle Darwinian principles in this experiment cannot be denied but it raises profound philosophical questions. If experiences can be biologically encoded and passed down, are we merely the products of our ancestors’ trials or there’s something greater at play?

Evolution or God?

Indeed, we owe everything we have to those who came before us.

What causes these impartations of breath-taking instincts for self preservation in our species? Why do you have your great grandmother’s eyes? Is it the grand workings of an Almighty creator or the domino effect where one event causes a series of other events? Do you have the shiny hair of one Homo erectus from two million years ago or the innocence of Adam?

We know nothing. The eternal book says “darkness was on the face of the deep and God said let there be light”.

Some intellectuals call this the Big Bang. Theologians call it the beauty of the impossible. You can call it whatever you want but one thing is constant, there has always been and will, always be an incredible source of power, a force so great and profound beyond our understanding; overseeing everything and initiating everything.

This same power is found within each of us giving us the ability to create, ability to pass down wonders to our young. And this power watches over us. 

What if we have only scratched the surface of our existence? What if…there’s more bear with me… there is God. 

As a man once said, “The first gulp from the glass of knowledge will make you an atheist but at the bottom of the glass you find God”

So the next time you read between the lines and notice the intricate details of the subtle curve of your wrist, playing a part in the mechanical framework of the graceful gesture of a hand wave, bidding a loved one farewell, know that you carry the universe within you.