Parents May Pass Immune Defenses to Offspring via RNA

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Research by Dr. Oded Rechavi at Tel Aviv University using C. elegans roundworms has shown that acquired resistance to viruses can be inherited across multiple generations — not through DNA changes, but through small RNA molecules. When parent worms were infected with a virus and destroyed it using small RNAs (short molecular signals that silence specific genes), their descendants were protected from the same virus even when those descendants lacked the genes needed to produce such RNAs themselves. The protection persisted for several generations and could be confirmed by sequencing the inherited RNA molecules in the offspring. While the mechanism is clearly established in worms, Rechavi cautioned that whether a similar process operates in mammals or humans is not yet proven — but he noted that small RNAs are currently the leading candidate molecule for explaining transgenerational inheritance of stress responses in mammals.