Moshe Szyf is a pioneer in the field of epigenetics, the study of how living things reprogram their genome in response to social factors like stress and lack of food. His research suggests that biochemical signals passed from mothers to offspring tell the child what kind of world they're going to live in, changing the expression of genes. "DNA isn't just a sequence of letters; it's not just a script." Szyf says. "DNA is a dynamic movie in which our experiences are being written."

Moshe Szyf: How early life experience is written into DNA

How early life experience is written into DNA

Early nurturing by mother rats, through licking and grooming, profoundly impacts their offspring's stress responses and behavior.

Cross-fostering experiments reveal nurturing, not genetics, shapes rats' responses to stress, underscoring the power of care over DNA.

Early maternal care alters DNA methylation, shaping an offspring's response to stress and social status throughout life.