Home Environment Influences Kids' DNA

Researchers at the McGill University discovered that the effects living conditions and family conditions have on children's DNA remain visible all the way into adulthood, when the kids reach middle age. The finding has considerable implications for public policies.

Together with colleagues from the University of British Columbia and the University College London (UCL) Institute of Child Health, the team was able to track gene methylation patterns throughout childhood in population subgroups that lived in adverse home environments.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to make the link between the economics of early life and the biochemistry of DNA. If we think of the genome as sentences, your DNA – or letters – are what is inherited from your father and mother,” McGill professor of pharmacology Moshe Szyf, PhD, says.

“We found a surprising amount of variation in DNA methylation – over 6,000 gene control regions showed clear differences between the 40 research participants,” conclude UCL ICH emeritus professor Dr. Marcus Pembrey, quoted by PsychCentral.