The first international conference on the impact of genocides and wars on the genetic changes in the human body will kick off in Yerevan on September 20.

The event will bring together prominent scientists from the U.S., Egypt, Romania, the Netherlands, Moldova, Switzerland, Germany, Russia and Armenia.

The main topic of the conference is Stress and Related Behavioral Disorder with a focus on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the impact of genocides and wars.

The recent studies show that there is a genetic predisposition to PTSD and that this predisposition may occur due to genetic mutations caused by high stress. This means that the genocide and war affect the lives of not only those who directly experienced the events, but also future generations.

The two-day conference that will be held in Orbeli Institute of Physiology is organized by International Stress and Behavior Society, the Dutch Metris B.V. company, Institute of Experimental Medicine at the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Physiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia,  with the support of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.