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Title: Early environmental effects on epigenetic regulation in humans

Author
item WATERLAND, ROBERT - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Epigenetics
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/22/2009
Publication Date: 11/16/2009
Citation: Waterland, R.A. 2009. Early environmental effects on epigenetic regulation in humans. Epigenetics. 4(8):523-525.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: We all know our environment affects our risk of disease. But importantly, the health consequences of environmental exposures depend not only on their severity, but also on their timing relative to developmental milestones. The developmental origins hypothesis is based on the fact that certain early environmental exposures alter developmental trajectories, causing permanent changes in physiology and risk of disease. Of several potential mechanisms of such "metabolic imprinting" proposed a decade ago, early environmental influences on epigenetic regulation have received increasing attention.