Most habits people form aren’t usually from birth but from experience. My question is, are those habits also engraved into their DNA? If so, how? And are these characteristics inherited by their progeny?
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In simplest terms, no. We don’t record our habits or memories in our DNA.
That said, our bodies have a way to “mark” (methylate) our DNA to adjust how our cells express certain genes (control how active they are). This is done in response to chemical stresses on our cells, and the process is reversible. It’s possible to pass on these “marks” to our offspring so that they, for a time, share the same tweaks to their gene expression. However, they only receive half of them from each parent, and process is reversible, so the effect can be very short-lived. It also doesn’t transfer complex behaviors or memories, just tweaks in the way our cells respond to their environment.
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