The ghost in your genes.

This programme looks at the science of inheritance, the genetic evidence that connects us with our ancestors - how much are our genes determined by the diet and lifestyles of our ancestors? A group of scientists are challenging the traditional understanding of biological inheritance. They believe that the lives of our parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents impact on the genes we inherit. This means that genes can be altered during our lives, that they do not remain locked away untainted to pass onto future generations. If this is so then traumatic events in the lives of our ancestors may also affect us psychologically as some psychologists believe can be seen in the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors.