Beyond the Helix

Abstract

Genes have been considered as all-powerful determinants of what will be. However, in the last three decades, science has unveiled a new way in which the environment can have a significant impact on health, through modulation of the way genes are used. The discoveries are concerning, and reveal how the fat deposits associated with obesity alter gene use to promote disease. Although this link has been known for millennia, the molecular mechanism suggests that diet is of critical importance and that the changes in body chemistry can be initiated by calorie-free nutrients, both deficiencies and excess. Of greater concern is the increasing evidence that suggests that dietary-induced changes in fat chemistry can be inherited by the next generation. Fat parents have children primed towards metabolic disturbances and obesity.