genetic memory
Inherited biological knowledge
Genetic memory is the idea that memories, instincts, or knowledge can be inherited biologically rather than learned—passed down through DNA from ancestors.
The concept appears more in science fiction and speculation than established science: The novel explores genetic memory as a way characters access their ancestors' experiences.
What science does support is inherited behavioral tendencies and instincts, though these differ from the vivid ancestral recall that fiction imagines.
Existing since birth
- hardwiredPermanently connected by wires
- ancestralOf one's forebears
- primalFirst in origin
- instinctualDriven by natural impulse
inborn · unlearned · preprogrammed · intuition · reflex · unconscious · visceral · adaptive
innate
Existing since birth
instinctual · inborn · unlearned · preprogrammed · intuition · reflex · unconscious · visceral · adaptive · behavioral
DNA
Hereditary code molecule
- heredityGenetic trait transmission
- chromosomesGene-bearing nuclear structures
- ancestryFamily line of descent
lineage · traits · alleles · phenotype · mutation · descendants · progeny · pedigree · recessive · dominant
- monarch migrationmonarch, painted lady, red admiral, milkweed, flyway
genetic memorylearned behavior
Action acquired through experience
conditioned response · personal experience · behavioral conditioning · procedural memory · education
genetic memoryoral tradition
Culture passed by speech
social learning · enculturation · socialization · apprenticeship · cultural memory
genetic, memory, gene, genes, genetics, genetically, genome, genomic, genesis