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You are what your mother ate : Hindustan Times
New York, Oct 08: With the help of some fat yellow mice, scientists have discovered exactly how a mother`s diet can permanently alter the functioning of genes in her offspring without changing the genes themselves.
New York, Oct 08: With the help of some fat yellow mice, scientists have discovered exactly how a mother's diet can permanently alter the functioning of genes in her offspring without changing the genes themselves.
The unusual strain of mouse carries a kind of trigger near the gene that determines not only the colour of its coat but also its predisposition to obesity, diabetes and cancer. When pregnant mice were fed extra vitamins and other dietary supplements, they interacted with the trigger in the foetal mice and shut down the gene.
As a result, obese yellow mothers gave birth to standard brown baby mice that grew up lean and healthy.
Scientists have long known that what pregnant mothers eat — whether they are mice, fruit flies or humans — can profoundly affect the susceptibility of their offspring to disease.
But until now they have not understood why, said Dr Randy Jirtle, a professor of radiation oncology at Duke University and senior investigator of the study, which was reported in the August 1 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology.
The research is a milestone in the relatively new science of epigenetics, the study of how environmental factors like diet, stress and maternal nutrition can change gene function without altering the DNA sequence in any way.
Such factors have been shown to play a role in cancer, stroke, diabetes, schizophrenia, manic depression and other diseases as well as in shaping behavioural traits in offspring.
Most geneticists are focusing on sequences of genes in an attempt to understand which gene goes with which illness or behaviour, said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. "But these epigenetic effects could turn out to be much more important. The field is revolutionary," he said, "and humbling."
As a result, obese yellow mothers gave birth to standard brown baby mice that grew up lean and healthy.
Scientists have long known that what pregnant mothers eat — whether they are mice, fruit flies or humans — can profoundly affect the susceptibility of their offspring to disease.
But until now they have not understood why, said Dr Randy Jirtle, a professor of radiation oncology at Duke University and senior investigator of the study, which was reported in the August 1 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology.
The research is a milestone in the relatively new science of epigenetics, the study of how environmental factors like diet, stress and maternal nutrition can change gene function without altering the DNA sequence in any way.
Such factors have been shown to play a role in cancer, stroke, diabetes, schizophrenia, manic depression and other diseases as well as in shaping behavioural traits in offspring.
Most geneticists are focusing on sequences of genes in an attempt to understand which gene goes with which illness or behaviour, said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. "But these epigenetic effects could turn out to be much more important. The field is revolutionary," he said, "and humbling."