A woman’s diet at the time of conception might cause lasting changes in the DNA of her children, potentially influencing their development, researchers say.
In a new study, researchers analyzed the diets of women in rural parts of The Gambia, in western Africa, who experience major changes in their diets over the course of each year as the area goes through rainy seasons and dry seasons.
“The rainy season is often referred to as ‘the hungry season,’ and the dry season ‘the harvest season,'” said study author Robert Waterland, a nutritional epigeneticist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “During the rainy season, villagers have a lot more farming labor to do, and they gradually run out of food collected from the previous harvest.”
Read the full, original story: Mother’s Diet at Time of Conception May Alter Baby’s DNA
