Blame the Grandparents and the Puppies: An epigenetic journey with Bianca Jones-Marlin

Sweta and Taylor interview Columbia University Neuroscientist Dr. Bianca Marlin Jones who breaks down the “love drug” oxytocin and its role in relationships, care, and behavior. Bianca explains the science behind how love transcends biological bonds, evident in the ease in which adoptive and foster parents love their non-biological children. Even dogs have developed evolutionary adaptive traits to make sure we continue to release oxytocin and feed and house them, and we are fine with it! The trio gets into trans-generational epigenetic inheritance of stress and trauma, and how experiences can be passed down to second and even third generations. Sperm and eggs REMEMBER, and Bianca’s cutting-edge research in this field will frankly blow your mind. Bianca calms Sweta down about potentially having children in the future. It turns out our brain’s “love drug” has played a consistent role in procreation and child-rearing since the dawn of our species, and the benefits do indeed outweigh the risks. Bianca's contributions in STEM are living black history and we're so excited to delve into the deets of her research. 

--- "Have ideas for the show? Want to give some feedback?" Shoot us a voice message at [phone] and we’ll make sure to get our producer to listen to it - cause we don’t do voicemail. You can always feel free to tweet us @swetachak and @drtaylorwallace respectively or @riskybehaviordc . We love a good tweet. 

-- Special shoutout to Bianca for making this possible! To keep up with Dr. Marlin and her work, check out the relevant links below: 

TWITTER: @bjmarlin

INSTA: @biancajonesmarlin

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Credits: 

Executive Producers/Hosts: Sweta Chakraborty and Taylor Wallace 

Production/Editing: Brandon Jack Lee Music

Special thanks to Anchor.fm for smart sounds