History Main / GeneticMemory

* WenSpencer's Ukiah Oregon books involve an alien virus with this trait.

* In "Mask of Circe", one of the Henry Kuttner's novels, the hero (who lived in XX century) had achieved the memories of his ancient ancestor - Jason (the mythologic character) through some kind of science experiment - and, although it's hilarious, it was used skilfully, and the novel is just great.

**** They in fact can remember a time before gods came along and created the world.

Similar to "past life memories", except [[OurSoulsAreDifferent the soul is brand spanking new]] and not a reincarnation. In general serves as a Justification for UpgradeArtifact via SecretLegacy. Often a convenient HandWave for how young (and therefore marketably hot) characters can have specialist knowledge that would realistically take years of education. May manifest as DreamingOfTimesGoneBy.

** Unusually for a comicbook clone, Wolverine's OppositeSexClone, {{X-23}}, completely ''averts'' this trope, having to be implanted in the womb, carried to term, delivered via normal birth, and aging normally, while possessing ''none'' of Logan's memories.

* Rosie in ElfQuest: The Rebels was created by mixing some human genes with genetic material pulled from a preserver corpse. She seems to retain the preserver memories.

* Doomsday was a lifeform that had been released into primitive Krypton's harsh environment, killed by the native wildlife, and then cloned from the remains, again and again. He retained memories of all his deaths, eventually killing his creator as payback for his agony.

* This was the purpose of Project F in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'': to create a clone that retains all the thoughts of the original, letting one [[{{Necromantic}} raise the dead in a way]].
** Also, the descendants of the ancient king Ingvalt (see ''ViVid'') sometimes inherit his memories and martial arts knowledge. Heidi denies being an "extension of his existence" though.

At some point in history, the idea that memories were passed down in RNA molecules, which are like DNA but not, entered the public consciousness, made camp, and refused to leave. While [[ScienceMarchesOn probably]] [[YouFailBiologyForever impossible]], the popularity of this trope can be attributed to the RuleOfCool, and how in Real Life biology, DNA acts like a form of advanced memory storage (containing massive amounts of data for production and assembly of various complex proteins). However, this won't become a fully DiscreditedTrope until and unless someone succeeds in creating a viable clone of an adult human being.

At some point in history, the idea that memories were stored in RNA molecules, which are like DNA but not, entered the public consciousness, made camp, and refused to leave. While [[ScienceMarchesOn probably]] [[YouFailBiologyForever impossible]], the popularity of this trope can be attributed to the RuleOfCool, and how in Real Life biology, DNA acts like a form of advanced memory storage (containing massive amounts of data for production and assembly of various complex proteins). However, this won't become a fully DiscreditedTrope until and unless someone succeeds in creating a viable clone of an adult human being.

* In the ''AmericanDad'' episode "For Black Eyes Only" Black Villain makes a black clone of Sexpun T'Come and she doesn't remember Stan, [[ItMakesSenseInContext until he convinces her to suck his toes]].

''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'' puts a twist on this: Since Desmond Miles' ability to view Altaïr's genetic memories ends with the birth of his second son, Altaïr's subsequent memories are viewed secondhand, by means of the Masyaf Keys that Ezio uncovers during the course of his adventure. So in this case it's a GeneticMemory of Ezio viewing the stored memories of Altaïr.

* This is precisely the main plot of the episode ''Aubrey'' in the 2nd season of ''{{The X-Files}}''. [[spoiler:A female police officer that was adopted begins to remember and reproduce the slayings committed by a grandfather she never knew, who was a serial killer.]]

* ''{{Roswell}}'' also plays with this. [[spoiler:The four hybrids in the series are in fact the clones of their previous selves: the king, the queen, the king's sister and his second in command. The aliens' original plan was for them to fully remember who they were, and went back to free their people. Of course, it backfired, since the hybrids emerged too young and with no memory of their home planet, their purpose here, or even their powers. Through the series, they do remember brief aspects of who they were, but they rarely seem to embrace it because they are afraid of what it meant to "be" somebody else.]]

* Likely unintentional Subversion in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. An early episode has Odo wondering about his people, feeling that his strong sense of justice is a racial memory, giving him an idea of the kind of people they are. His people are in fact a group of brutal oppressors who often engage in genocide. That being said, they do have the ability to transfer information through touch, but it applied to his sense of order, not justice.

* Weird [[InvertedTrope Inversion]] in KingdomHearts. [[spoiler:Xion is a clone made from Sora's memories essentially giving her GeneticMemory.]]
** Ditto [[spoiler: Riku Replica]], who also had his memories deliberately tampered with, creating ''false'' genetic memories.

* I'm not sure if it should be here or under SuperpowerfulGenetics, but it's an explicit part of Franchise/{{Pokemon}} that you can use GeneticMemory to pass on moves from parent to child, potentially unleashing a level 1 {{mon|s}} with [[FrickinLaserBeams Hyper Beam]] on the world.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss''. [[spoiler:The main character, Luke, is a clone who started out not even knowing how to walk or talk.]]

* Before the "RNA memory" theory was discredited, LarryNiven used it as a teaching device in his short story "Rammer" and its novel expansion, ''A World Out of Time''.
* In JackLondon 's short novel ''Before Adam'' the protagonist tells us his dreams of the life of one of his distant ancestor, an early [[FrazettaMan hominid]]. He explains that these are genetic memories, and that the reason his are so clear and specific is he is a "freak". (He specifically denies they could be the result of reincarnation, and explains why.)

* In ArthurCClarke's seminal ''ChildhoodsEnd'', the alien Overlords, when they reveal themselves, are the very model of [[spoiler: devils: leather wings, red skin, horns, tail.]] Everybody figures that they are in fact the source of [[spoiler:devil myths]], through some encounter back in mankind's history remembered through racial memory.
** Turns out to be a case of Genetic Foreshadowing. The Overlords play a role in mankind's [[spoiler:ultimate extinction, an event so traumatic for the humans of the future]] that it somehow echoes back into the past.

** This applies to ALL clones in the MarvelUniverse except for the clones who are given fake memories to make sure they're unaware of being clones in the first place.

** DragonQuestMonsters uses the same trope, though if you have Blazemost, you simply start out with Blaze. You have to meet statistical requirements.

* In ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', Englishmen apparently created the game cricket out of [[FutureImperfect distorted]] racial memory of the Krikkit Wars. It wasn't just the name, either. The Krikkit preferred to throw spherical bombs by hitting them with sticks. The fact that humans turned it into a game was not received very well by the galactic community.
* In the novel ''PlanetOfTheApes'', the ape scientists in the Encephalic Section access the memory of several humans in an experiment on one woman.
* In the original ''[[EarthsChildren Clan of The Cave Bear]]'', the Neanderthals were portrayed as having racial memories, which was supposed to both make up for their lack of verbal skills and imagination and keep them socially and "technologically" stagnant.
** Dougal Dixon gives a ShoutOut to this in ''Man After Man'', in which ''Homo mensproavodorum'' evolves GeneticMemory thousands of years after its ancestor, ''Homo sapiens sapiens'', has died out. Also a bit of a TakeThat, as reliance on hereditary memory does have its limitations in a changing world: the first hominid to possess this capability travels for hundreds of miles in search of a lush woodland she "remembers", only to find that it's been reduced to a forest of dead, leafless trunks. She survives, but her mate doesn't make it.

* WenSpencer's Ukiah Oregon books involve an alien virus with this trait.
* One of the alien lifeforms in Creator/AlanDeanFoster's HumanxCommonwealth Novels has a literal genetic memory, in that the parent passes on the rapidly changing hunting methods of its main predator to the offspring, which receive no parental care and fend for themselves as soon as they emerge from their egg-equivalent.
* Dodged around in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse. Clones that go through the Spaarti treatment, going from nothing to a functioning adult in a year or less, are indoctrinated or given the prime clone's memories through some kind of pre-decanting process which is never really described, but it's definitely not genetic. At one point an [[Literature/TalesFromTheMosEisleyCantina Ithorian who killed someone]], a major taboo for his culture, felt guilty enough to make two clones, and when they appear briefly in a novel they're just that Ithorian's twin human sons, not at all like the {{Jerkass}} he killed. Clones are also not the same as the originals, [[ComicBook/DarkEmpire Palpatine]] with his BodySurf notwithstanding. Creator/TimothyZahn, a prominent writer, is on record saying that he might one day bring back a clone of Thrawn, but said clone will be fully aware that he ''isn't'' Thrawn, and might not have the same personality or genius. He'll also be aware of the crushing expectation everyone will have for him to live up to the original.
** The 'verse does hold that some fears and likes are genetic - a couple of clones believe Jango was claustrophobic, for example, because ''they'' are. That's a little less far fetched than full-fledged memories.
** In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: Clones'' there is an impossibly quick method for producing clones and giving them the scanned memories of their templates (with the downside that, because they are so rushed, the clones are permanently in the emotional state the original was in at time of scanning, and cannot distinguish fantasy from reality). Darth Vader was scanned and a drop of his blood spilled, and the resulting DarthVaderClone, looking for minions, found old cell samples at an abandoned Rebel base. Since the clones produced from those didn't come with mind scans, they weren't at all useful to him.
* The Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers of the ''{{Dune}}'' series are capable of calling upon their genetic memories with the aid of extensive training to control and be aware of their own metabolism, and the use of a highly potent awareness enhancing drug. They are somewhat limited, since the training of the Bene Gesserit leaves them with a mindset which prevents them from accessing the memories of their male ancestry, and the techniques (which were developed over the course of several centuries and take a lifetime to be taught) cannot be taught to men. The drug also kills anyone without the training to alter it within their body. The Bene Gesserit thus initiated a breeding program over ten thousand years to create a man who could access the full memories of his entire ancestry.
** Gholas, essentially the corpses of dead people brought back to life by Tleilaxu science, are memory-less but the Tleilaxu learn in ''Dune Messiah'' that a strong trauma can restore their memories. That's reasonable, but later this even works for clones, and reaches its ultimate heights in ''Heretics of Dune'' where a clone of Duncan Idaho gains the memories of ''every other clone that's ever been made of Duncan Idaho''.
* The central character in PiersAnthony's ''Orn'' is a large omnivorous flightless bird, which is less intelligent than a person but has GeneticMemory going back to ''the earliest vertebrates''.

* Headies (highly intelligent psychic dog-like aliens) in the [[Creator/StrugatskyBrothers Noonverse]] have this naturally.
* Weird example from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': In a near-death experience, Tobias starts having vivid flashbacks to the life of his father, [[spoiler:Elfangor]]. He later mentions it to Ax, who says that Andalites used to believe in genetic memory but that it was long dismissed as superstition. What makes it weird is that it clearly has some genetic and some non-genetic component, as Tobias is not from a genetics perspective [[spoiler:Elfangor]]'s son and experienced memories that happened after he was born, but at the same time he was only able to access them while in the body of [[spoiler:Elfangor's brother Ax]], who ''is'' genetically his [[spoiler:brother]].
** The Howlers also have a racial memory that allows them to remember every battle they ever won. Jake is able to access it when he morphs into a Howler, and [[spoiler:the Animorphs "infect" it with memories that threaten to give the whole species a HeelRealization, forcing [[CosmicHorror Crayak]] to eliminate the affected Howlers]].
* In "Mask of Circe", one of the Henry Kuttner's novels, the hero (who lived in XX century) had achieved the memories of his ancient ancestor - Jason (the mythologic character) through some kind of science experiment - and, although it's hilarious, it was used skilfully, and the novel is just great.

* ''TheWheelOfTime'' has what is known as "the old blood", a phenomenon which results in people having their ancestors' memories and spontaneously shouting battle cries of ancient nations in a dead language. Mat Cauthon is has it particularly strongly. Some characters also obtain memories from their past lives or those of other people in ways unrelated to genetics.
* Though it's never explicitly stated, the Vord from ''Literature/CodexAlera'' appear to have this. At the very least, the [[BigBad Vord Queen]] knows exactly what she is, what her purpose is, and how to use all her abilities despite never having met a single other member of her species since hatching that wasn't one of her own offspring. Later on, she occasionally references events from the ancient history of the Vord as though she were there, even though that would be impossible considering her youth.

* In JackLondon 's short novel ''Before Adam'' the protagonist tells us his dreams of the life of one of his distant ancestor, an early [[FrazettaMan hominid]]. He explains that these are genetic memories, and that the reason his are so clear and specific is he is a "freak". (He specifically denies they could be the result of reincarnation, and explains why.)
** In ''Literature/TheCallOfTheWild'' Buck occasionally has dreams of primitive humans and there are several references to his ancestors telling him how to survive.
* In ''JeffLong'''s ''YearZero'', the clones produced from religious relics dated to around the time of Jesus's death all have intact memories of their life prior to death, as does a Neanderthal clone.
** In Long's other book ''Literature/TheDescent'' (not to be confused with the 2005 movie), a subterranean hominid species known as the Hadal are capable of inheriting genetic memories from previous generations. In one scene, a deceased Hadal also passes their consciousness and memories to a human's body through an electrical signal transmitted by touch. It is implied that this is how the ''BigBad'', Satan, has survived since the beginning of humanity.
* Frank Schätzing's ''The Swarm''/''Literature/DerSchwarm'' features a sea dwelling hive mind of single cell organisms known as the Yrr. It is suggested that the Yrr remember events from millions of years ago either by actively coding memories into their DNA or membranes/proteins or by acting somewhat like a huge brain i.e. defective cells within the neural network are constantly replaced with new cells which are given information from other neural network cells that have yet to be replaced in order to maintain memories.
* Before the "RNA memory" theory was discredited, LarryNiven used it as a teaching device in his short story "Rammer" and its novel expansion, ''A World Out of Time''.
* In StephenHunt's ''The Rise of the Iron Moon'', Purity dreams of a longago ancestor.
* The Tholians in the StarTrekNovelVerse. Encoded in their crystalline molecules is every memory of their people, dating back to the first moment of sapience. Many are buried deep, of course, not generally available to a given individual unless they're brought to the fore by powerful emotional or psychic triggers. Due to the short lifespan of members of many Tholian castes, memories and experience are often "uploaded" to the next generation from the pool of ancestral memories. This is one reason why Tholians hold grudges for an uncomfortably long time - the memories are fresh in their minds for generations.
** In the novel Literature/SpocksWorld, [=McCoy=] mentions getting a Vulcan RNA transplant, which allows him to understand the language better than the universal translators.

* ''Literature/AdventureHunters'': Despite its NuclearWeaponsTaboo, Nicholi didn't want his knowledge of golem crafting to go to waste so he implanted it into the genetics of his family line. [[spoiler: Regina is the latest link in this chain.]]
* The Souls from ''Literature/TheHost'' have a form of this, though given the way they reproduce, it kinda makes a vague sort of sense.

* In ''MassEffect'', the queens of the Rachni, a species of sentient insectoids, inherit all memories of their mothers.

* Dodged around in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse. Clones that go through the Spaarti treatment, going from nothing to a functioning adult in a year or less, are indoctrinated or given the prime clone's memories through some kind of pre-decanting process which is never really described, but it's definitely not genetic. At one point an [[TalesFromTheMosEisleyCantina Ithorian who killed someone]], a major taboo for his culture, felt guilty enough to make two clones, and when they appear briefly in a novel they're just that Ithorian's twin human sons, not at all like the {{Jerkass}} he killed. Clones are also not the same as the originals, [[DarkEmpire Palpatine]] with his BodySurf notwithstanding. TimothyZahn, a prominent writer, is on record saying that he might one day bring back a clone of Thrawn, but said clone will be fully aware that he ''isn't'' Thrawn, and might not have the same personality or genius. He'll also be aware of the crushing expectation everyone will have for him to live up to the original.

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* In some pseudo-scientific interpretations of TheBible (and many [[EpicOfGilgamesh other myths]]), the story of The Flood is believed to be a latent memory of life before evolution on land.

* The "ghosts" in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' are explained as memories being passed around through ADAM. It started happening after the Little Sisters were deployed to collect loose ADAM from the dead.

* There is a field of genetic sicence called epigenetics, which studies how environmental factors can imprint certain effects onto how genes are expressed (for example through DNA methylization). These imprinted effects have been shown to pass through two or three generations before they are overwritten. For example a period famine during one's childhood can effect things like the body weight and course heart disease of one's '''grand'''-children '''great-grand'''-children!

* In some scientific interpretations of TheBible (and many [[EpicOfGilgamesh other myths]]), the story of The Flood is believed to be a latent memory of life before evolution on land.