Grandpa's diet hits descendants

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http://www.nature.com/nsu/021028/021028-9.html is nice All,

Excerpts:

Grandpa's diet hits descendants

Effects of nutrition could be carried down generations.

1 November 2002

Grandfathers who overeat

might ruin their

grandchildren's health, say

Swedish researchers. The

study suggests that diet,

which does not change

genes, can nevertheless

influence future

generations.

Grandchildren of well-fed

grandfathers were four

times as likely to die from

diabetes, they found. Kids

of men who suffered

famine were less likely to

die from heart disease1.

If, for example, the grandfather's generation has ample

food, sperm would carry a particular set of switches into the

offspring. Next generation, food might be sparse, and a

father's sperm would re-program their genes to deal with an

erratic food supply.

Cheers, Al.

Alan Pater, Ph.D.; Faculty of Medicine; Memorial University; St. 's, NL

A1B 3V6 Canada; Tel. No.: (709) 777-6488; Fax No.: (709) 777-7010; email:

apater@...