A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 17

This is the sixth year in a row I’ve run this series in April.

Today: Scientists have found that memories may be passed down through generations in our DNA.

New research from Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta, has shown that it is possible for some information to be inherited biologically through chemical changes that occur in DNA. During the tests they learned that that mice can pass on learned information about traumatic or stressful experiences — in this case a fear of the smell of cherry blossom — to subsequent generations.

According to the Telegraph, Dr Brian Dias, from the department of psychiatry at Emory University, said: ”From a translational perspective, our results allow us to appreciate how the experiences of a parent, before even conceiving offspring, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations.

“Such a phenomenon may contribute to the etiology and potential intergenerational transmission of risk for neuropsychiatric disorders such as phobias, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.”

This suggests that experiences are somehow transferred from the brain into the genome, allowing them to be passed on to later generations.

Okay-okay-okay. This may be a TV series concept. What if there’s a woman. She’s a 10th generation cop-sleuth-private investigator. Family tradition working law enforcement. And somehow, either naturally or through some external means (cool ass machine?) she is able to delve into the ‘memories’ of her ancestors within her own DNA to explore unsolved cases?

She can bring modern technology to bear on unsolved murders from the 1700s. Or the theft of $10M worth of gold in the 1800s. Hell, I Googled “unsolved crimes history” and immediately came up with this:

I’m sure there are a ton of cases in the public domain to use as source material for episodes.

But wait. What if our Protagonist’s meddling into cases in the past catches the attention of some sort of secret society which has a long history of criminal activity? So there is this malevolent Nemesis activity going on with an overarching plot, a longtime conspiracy of global proportions. And they want our Hero taken out.

So… you’ve got case of the week. The meta mystery. And the hook: Mystery Memories.

Anything there? Huh huh?

There you go: My seventeenth story idea for the month. And it’s yours. Free!

What would you do with it?

Each day this month, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Gender bend, genre bend, what if. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are all valuable skills for a writer to develop.

See you in comments (hit Reply to join the conversation). And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.

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