Mother’s Diet Before Conception Can Allegedly Modify Child’s DNA

Researchers have reportedly found that nutrient levels in a pregnant woman’s diet before conception can permanently affect how the child’s genes function. Paula Dominguez-Salas et al., “Maternal nutrition at conception modulates DNA methylation of human metastable epialleles,” Nature Communications, April 2014. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) researchers selected 167 pregnant women from a group of 2,000 in the Gambia based on when their fetuses were conceived—some at the peak of rainy season, when the Gambian diet includes fewer calories but more nutrient-rich vegetables, and some at the peak of dry season, when the diet includes more calories but fewer vitamins.

The study evidently found that the infants born from the rainy season conceptions had significantly higher rates of the chemical compounds that activate genes than the infants born from the dry season conceptions. These compounds—methyl groups—can determine whether a gene is activated or silenced in the child through a process called methylation, and higher rates of methyl groups lead to more activated genes. The team also found a link between the amount of methyl groups and the Body Mass Index of the mothers, with heavier mothers’ infants showing lower levels of methylation—despite that none of the women was overweight and all had levels of nutrients in their blood that doctors would label normal. “Our ultimate goal is to define an optimal diet for mothers-to-be that would prevent defects in the methylation process,” said Andrew Prentice, a professor of international nutrition and co-author of the study. “Our research is pointing towards the need for a cocktail of nutrients, which could come from the diet or from supplements.” See LSHTM Press Release, April 29, 2014.

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