People can bequeath their children the consequences of their own eating habits, according to a study published in the journal Cell。
A research team from the University of Massachusetts Medical School placed male mice on a low-protein diet from the time they were weaned until they reached sexual maturity. Then they found the second-generation mice had hundreds of genetic mutations - particularly in the liver - and this had a severe impact on their metabolic functioning。
"It's consistent with the idea that when parents go hungry, it's best for offspring to hoard calories," said lead researcher Oliver Rando. He went on to say that the third generation will be of interest as well. "There are many ways our parents can 'tell' us things," said Rando。
Researchers do not yet understand how the genetic information is transferred from father to child。
美国《时代周刊》27日报道称，一项发表在生物学杂志《细胞》上的研究论文表明，人们能将自身饮食习惯带来的后果遗传给子孙后代。
马萨诸塞大学医学院的研究小组给雄性鼠提供低蛋白饮食，自哺乳期到性成熟期。随后他们发现，第二代小鼠的大量基因发生突变——尤其是肝脏部位——而这种变化对他们的新陈代谢机制产生了重大影响。
“这就意味着，如果父母感到饥饿，后代最好也开始摄入卡路里，”研究带头人奥利弗•兰多说道。他补充说(在小鼠研究中)第三代也有同样变化。“看来我们的父母有很多方法‘告诉’我们一些信息，”兰多说道。
目前研究人员还没有搞清楚这种基因信息是如何从父代传递到子代的。