3 ms·

DNA methylation! I first read about it from this study in 2014: https://reporter.mcgill.ca/dna-signature-found-in-ice-storm-babies/ https://reporter.mcgill.ca/d

• yarg 4y ago
  Yeah, it's been known for quite some that epigenetic changes are heritable, and that they can be stress induced.
  • monkeybutton 4y ago
    I find it really interesting that one of the consequences is increased obesity in offspring. It's basically evolution passing on the message from one generation to the next: "Pack on those extra calories when you can kid, you're gonna need them!" Then when those environmental stressors are gone the signal is turned off for next generation. Sort of a short-term but cross-generational mechanism for optimizing metabolism. Wild.
    • mensetmanusman 4y ago
      It might also be a gene’s way of reducing the likelihood of future propagation due to the harm? https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/obesity-fertility-and-contraception-disparities-among-women-3-perspectives/ https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/obesity-fertility-and-co...
    • em-bee 4y ago
      there was another study about obesity in sweden that could be traced to a famine in a certain village several generations earlier.