• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Thursday, January 28, 2021
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Genetics

How baby’s genes influence birth weight and later life disease

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
September 29, 2016
in Genetics
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

New research finds genetic differences that help to explain why some babies are born bigger or smaller than others. It also reveals how genetic differences provide an important link between an individual’s early growth and their chances of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease in later life.

baby

The large-scale study, published in Nature, could help to target new ways of preventing and treating these diseases.

The new study was jointly led by a team of researchers from six institutions including the universities of Exeter, Oxford, Bristol, Cambridge and Queensland, and the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam. The research involved more than 160 international researchers from 17 countries who are members of the Early Growth Genetics (EGG) Consortium. The work was supported by more than 120 research funders: the major sources of funding for UK researchers were the Wellcome Trust, the Royal Society, the Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research and the European Union.

The research concluded that a substantial proportion (at least one-sixth) of the variation in birth weight is down to genetic differences between babies. This is seven to eight times more variation than can be explained by environmental factors already known to influence birthweight, such as the mother smoking during pregnancy or her body mass index (a measure of obesity) before pregnancy starts.

Dr Rachel Freathy, a Sir Henry Dale Fellow at the University of Exeter Medical School, who was joint lead author on the study, said: “This study has revealed how the small genetic differences between individuals can collectively have quite large effects on birth weight, and how those same genetic differences are often linked to poor health in later life. Weight at birth is influenced by many factors, including the baby’s genes and those of its parents, as well as by the nutrition made available and the environment provided by the mother. We now have a much more detailed view of the ways in which these genetic and environmental elements work together to influence early growth and later disease.”

It has been known for some time that babies whose birthweight is well below, or well above, average have a markedly increased risk of diabetes many decades later. Until now, many researchers have assumed that this link reflects the long-term impact of the nutritional environment in which the fetus develops: in other words, that events in early life can “set up” an individual’s body in ways that make them more prone to disease in later life.

In this new study, the researchers uncovered a substantial overlap in the genetic regions linked to differences in birth weight and those that are connected to a higher risk of developing diabetes or heart disease. Most of this overlap involves the baby’s genetic profile, but the team found that the mother’s genes also played an important role in influencing her baby’s birth weight, most likely through the ways in which they alter the baby’s environment during pregnancy.

Professor Mark McCarthy at the University of Oxford, and co-lead author, said: “These findings provide vital clues to the some of the processes that act over decades of life to influence an individual’s chances of developing diabetes and heart disease. These should highlight new approaches to treatment and prevention. Understanding the contributions of all of these processes will also tell us how much we should expect the many, wonderful improvements in antenatal care to reduce the burden of future diabetes and heart disease.”

The researchers analysed genetic differences throughout the genomes of nearly 154,000 people from across the world. Around half of these came from the UK Biobank cohort. By matching the genetic profiles of these people to information on birth weight, the researchers could identify sixty regions of the genome that were clearly driving differences in birthweight. They then analysed data from previous studies on conditions including diabetes and heart disease, and found that many of the same genomic regions were implicated.

Dr Momoko Horikoshi, from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, co-lead author on the paper, continued, “Our results point to the key role played by genetic differences in connecting variation in early growth to future risk of disease. Our next steps will be to gather more pieces of the puzzle, including a better understanding of how the genetic profiles of mother and baby act together to modify the baby’s weight and later disease risk.”

Dr Rob Beaumont, at the University of Exeter Medical School, who worked on the study, said: “This study highlights the value of large-scale international research collaborations. It’s really satisfying to bring together a wide range of experts to analyse largescale datasets to advance understanding in key areas of human health.”

Web Source: University of Exeter.

The post How baby’s genes influence birth weight and later life disease appeared first on Scienmag.

Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

IMAGE

Amino acid recycling in cells: Autophagy helps cells adapt to changing conditions

December 10, 2020
IMAGE

Cataloging nature’s hidden arsenal: Viruses that infect bacteria

December 10, 2020

Within a hair’s breadth–forensic identification of single dyed hair strand now possible

December 9, 2020

£1m step closer to understanding genetic diseases

December 9, 2020
Next Post
blank

Early onset menopausal symptoms could predict heart disease

blank

Empowering diabetes patients through technology

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

POPULAR NEWS

  • IMAGE

    The map of nuclear deformation takes the form of a mountain landscape

    54 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • People living with HIV face premature heart disease and barriers to care

    69 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 17
  • New drug form may help treat osteoporosis, calcium-related disorders

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • New findings help explain how COVID-19 overpowers the immune system

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

Ecology/EnvironmentMaterialsTechnology/Engineering/Computer SciencePublic HealthGeneticscancerClimate ChangeCell BiologyInfectious/Emerging DiseasesChemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesBiologyMedicine/Health

Recent Posts

  • Enhanced recovery efforts for cesarean delivery reduce need for opioids by 80%
  • Understanding how genetic motifs conduct “the music of life”
  • Eyes reveal life history of fish
  • Technology bolsters use of chia seeds to help improve health, slow signs of aging
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In