We are what we eat! – new insights into the influence of nutrition during development.

“Can nutrition change our genome while we are in utero?”  This is a question that Dr. Anne Parle-McDermott’s research group are interested in answering. There is evidence that what our mother’s eat while we are developing in their womb’s can impact on our disease risk later in our adult lives.  This is exemplified by the Dutch Hunger Winter, during which pregnant mothers had enforced reduced calorie intake due to World War II.  The excellent record keeping at the time allowed researchers to follow the fates of the children that were subsequently born to these mothers.  The data clearly showed that those children that were in utero during that time had a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic disorders when they were adults. It is now well accepted that nutrition during pregnancy is important for the adult health of children but the exact mechanism of how this happens is not clear.  Modifications to DNA are one of the stronger explanations due to a process known as methylation.  While our genetic make-up does confer who we are and what our disease risks might be; there is growing appreciation that chemical modifications to our DNA are also significant. The Parle-McDermott laboratory in collaboration with the University of Ulster, Coleraine are searching for sites in the genome that are sensitive to the intake of a particular nutrient, known as folate.  While folate and its synthetic form folic acid are known to be very important in the prevention of birth defects, it may also be one of the key nutrients that can modify DNA.  This research is investigating how relevant folate is in modifying our genomes and what impact this will have on human health.