Science Guide

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have made a groundbreaking discovery - Overweight moms give birth to children who become even heavier and in turn have children who become even heavier and so on and so on.

Damn!

Maybe I have been wrong all these years. Maybe our body composition is determined by our DNA.

Nope.

According to this study, researchers found that "chemical changes in the ways genes are expressed -- a phenomenon called epigenetics -- could affect successive generations of mice.

Not will affect successive generations or even should affect, but could affect successive generations.

The Hypothesis

Lead researcher, Dr. Robert Waterland, designed this study to test the hypothesis that maternal obesity before and during pregnancy affects the body weight regulatory mechanisms in her offspring.

In layman's terms, does a fat mom produce fat babies?

The Method

Waterland et al tested this hypothesis on three generations of genetically identical mice, all with the same genetic tendency to overeat. (agouti viable yellow [A^vy] mice)

The mice were divided into two groups:

1. Standard diet group
2. Standard diet supplemented with folic acid, vitamin B12, betaine and choline. This special 'methyl supplemented' diet enhances DNA methylation.

Sorry about that. You don't have to worry about nerd terms like DNA methylation, there won't be a test at the end of this post.

What they were attempting to do was to reduce or silence the effect that the inherited gene had over the development of the baby mice.

Can mice that are genetically predisposed to obesity be spared from a life of stretchy pants and motorized scooters?

The Results

The mice on the standard diet piled on the body-fat, as expected, and subsequent generations were progressively more obese.

Those on the methyl supplemented diet did not gain weight through successive generations.

So what does this mean to me?

Well, according to Dr. Waterland, "the effect of methyl supplementation on body weight was independent of epigenetic changes at the A^vy locus, indicating this model may have direct relevance to human transgenerational obesity".

OR

This treatment could be safely adapted for human trials and could potentially provide a cure for inherited pediatric obesity.

Please note that this is one study, performed on mice. This doesn't mean that moms-to-be should start mega-dosing supplements in order to produce babies with six packs.

Let the geeks do their work.

First come the scientific human trials. Then come the drug company trials. Then come the drugs and/or supplements.

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