Butternews

  Dajani and her colleagues concentrated on patterns of DNA methylation, an epigenetic mechanism in which DNA is tagged with methyl groups, to determine whether trauma resulting from these violent occurrences had left epigenetic traces and whether these markings are passed down through the maternal germ line. According to Dajani, it is among "the most studied [processes] and we have the equipment today to accomplish it." The researchers looked for study volunteers from the Syrian populations in Jordan for five years. Being brutally assaulted or persecuted by authorities or militias, witnessing someone else being beaten, shot, or killed, or witnessing a fatality were all considered traumatic experiences of violence by the team. Children and women who experienced direct, traumatic experiences of violence in the 1980s and after 2011 have unique methylation tags on 21 DNA locations, according to their analysis of DNA samples taken from participants' cheek cells.