Don't blame the mothers

From folk medicine to popular culture, there is an abiding fascination with how the experiences of pregnant women imprint on their descendants. The latest wave in this discussion flows from studies of epigenetics - analyses of heritable changes to DNA that affect gene activity but not nucleotide seq...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2014-08, Vol.512 (7513), p.131
Main Author: Richardson, Sarah S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Developmental biology
DNA
Epigenetics
Health risk assessment
Studies
Womens health
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:From folk medicine to popular culture, there is an abiding fascination with how the experiences of pregnant women imprint on their descendants. The latest wave in this discussion flows from studies of epigenetics - analyses of heritable changes to DNA that affect gene activity but not nucleotide sequence. Such DNA modification has been implicated in a child's future risk of obesity, diseases such as diabetes, and poor response to stress.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/512131a