June 2025: Rechavi: Recreating groundbreaking experiments from a century ago could transform our understanding of evolution

In the early 20th century, three Jewish scientists in Vienna founded a private research institute called Biologische Versuchsanstalt (BVA), which became a pioneer in its field. Among other topics, they explored epigenetic inheritance, the idea that life experiences of an organism can affect the traits of its offspring, even without changes to DNA. This concept was long considered controversial.

The BVA institute operated until 1938, when it was shut down by the Nazis. During its years of activity, it conducted experiments on hundreds of animal species and published hundreds of scientific papers. Their findings suggested that acquired traits could be passed to the next generation, a phenomenon also observed in modern studies on worms and mice.

Prof. Oded Rechavi, Edmond J. Safra affiliate (Life Sciences) wishes to recreate these experiments using modern scientific tools in order to test the validity of their findings.

Recently, he received a $1.2 million grant from the international Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) to carry out this ambitious project.

Notably, HFSP is a highly competitive grant program: thousands of proposals are submitted and only 4% are awarded funding. Prof. Rechavi will be leading this scientific initiative, which is extraordinary both in scope and in nature, blending scientific history with cutting-edge experimental biology.

Prof. Rechavi’s project could shed new light on biological mechanisms once thought impossible and potentially reshape our understanding of evolution, medicine, and ecology.