EpiGenetics-Maternal DNA-One Woman

In my previous Mi Voz blog post, Inheriting Trauma, I mention that research is starting to suggest that ancestral trauma may be passed down through epigenetics. 

As many of you know, I believe that Fibromyalgia is a nervous system disorder where the root cause is Trauma.  In my situation, chronic trauma stems from emotional and physical trauma that began in childhood/adolescence and continued through adulthood.   Having survived a myriad of traumas in my life has led me on a quest to do my part in ensuring that future generations do not inherit what was handed down to me-No human should EVER have to endure so much pain! 

While there seems to not be any easy answers to resolving generational trauma or repairing nerve endings damage, in some cases traditional healing methods, finding identity in community and education can help break the cycle of trauma-When you know better you do better!

Fortunately for me there also seems to also be some environmental factors coupled with my my DNA that taught me to be resilient, overcome and persevere, but I’ve digressed… onto epigenetics and the ancestral lineage that may have passed down the trauma and resilience heirloom.

For those who may not know, Epigenetics is the study of how the events that happen to you and your behaviors — such as traumatic events and trauma responses — can change the way your genes work. These changes don’t affect your DNA sequence, but they can affect how your body reads that DNA

Here’s How:

Trauma can leave a chemical mark on a person’s genes, which can then be passed down to future generations. This mark doesn’t cause a genetic mutation, but it does alter the mechanism by which the gene is expressed. This alteration is not genetic, but epigenetic

How Trauma affects the brain’s immune system:

"When in a high trauma reactive state, the microglia eat away at nerve endings instead of enhancing growth and getting rid of damage," Dr. DeSilva said. "The microglia go haywire in the brain and cause depression, anxiety, and dementia. This can translate into genetic changes, which can be passed down to further generations."~Dr. DeSilva

With this in mind, I decided to look beyond the three diagnosed generations of Fibromyalgia in my family.  This led me to reviewing 23 and me results (DNA Testing, Ancestry and more…) 

 Most interesting to me was the quote listed below on my

“Maternal Haplogroup report”

“You descend from a long line of female ancestors that can be traced back to eastern Africa over 150,000 years ago. These are the people of your maternal line, and your maternal haplogroup sheds light on their story”

— 23 and Me DNA Results

I then reviewed the map below that traced migrations of my maternal line from “Haplogroup L” (180,000 years ago) to “Haplogroup A” (24,000 years ago).

The report also included the following information on Haplogroup L:

“If every person living today could trace his or her maternal line back over thousands of generations, all of our lines would meet at a single woman who lived in eastern Africa between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago.  

But who is her? And why did this quest lead me to reviewing my ancestry beyond the three known generations of Fibromyalgia? Could I have inherited the resilience and strength that got me through the Chronic Trauma through “her”?  

As I took a deeper dive, I found that in human mitochondrial genetics, Mitochondrial represents your maternal lineage and its DNA can only be inherited through the maternal line and traced back to one woman-Not to be mistaken as the first woman or only woman of her time, rather it indicates that her descendants are alive today.  What an awesome discovery to find that my female lineage can be traced back to thousands of generations. Even more interesting to me is that this lineage is still alive in me today! This made me wander about the myriad of traumas I have endured and the survival skills/resilience that kept and protected me.  Could I have inherited those as well? Who is she? And is she what made me a Warrior?

“Though she was one of perhaps thousands of women alive at the time, only the diverse branches of her haplogroup have survived to today. The story of your maternal line begins with her.”~  23 and me results

While I still am not sure if the resilience and strength that got me through it all is inherited through my maternal haplogroup L, I did find that I am in very good company when it comes to MTDNA Haplogroup L.

Condoleezza Rice (b. 1954) is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State. She was the first female African-American Secretary of State. Her haplogroup was disclosed in the PBS TV series Finding Your Roots.

Perhaps it is time to dive deeper?

Stay Tuned for my next MiVoz Blog:

Inheriting Trauma-The Mitochondrial Eve Gene and Resilience.