You are what your mother ate

摘要

Whether or not some of your genes are active may depend on what food supplements your mother took. That is the implication of an intriguing study in mice. The coat colour of offspring was changed by simply giving females extra doses of four common nutrients, including folic acid and vitamin B_(12). The offspring were also less prone to obesity and diabetes than genetically identical mice whose mothers had not been given supplements. The differences were due to heritable changes in the activity of at least one gene in the offspring. It is not yet clear if the same phenomenon occurs in people. If it does, what women eat during the formation of the egg and early embryo, including supplements, could have an even more profound effect than anyone thought. Changes in gene activity could make their descendants more or less likely to suffer from a range of disorders, including obesity, cancer, diabetes and possibly even autism. Many people think that there is no downside to food supplements, says the senior researcher, Randy Jirtle of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. "But there could be a lifelong downside and we have no clue yet what those effects are."