Reproduction Theories Discussed

The David L. Lawrence Convention Center is hosting the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR), which is focusing this year on the effects of outside influences on prenatal growth. SSR President Asgi Fazleabas says it’s possible conditions like cardiovascular disease start before birth. “The impact of smoking, alcohol, obesity, a number of these factors contribute to the potential of the offspring having, potentially, disease for the rest of his or her life,” says Fazleabas.

He says while the idea of being healthy while pregnant is not new, the hypothesis of the environment affecting fetuses is gaining speed in both the press and the world of medicine. This notion, called epigenetics, refers to the way outside influences can change the way one’s genes are expressed in the body.

Dr. Kjersti Aagaard-Tillery presented an abstract saying that in a primate study, a maternal high-fat diet caused the child to produce fat at twice the normal rate. Her studies say that while the genetic signatures of the fetus are affected mostly by the actual diet during pregnancy, metabolism levels in the child are more influenced by the mother’s long-term obesity.

“There are proteins that really do play a role, and might have implications in some animals being resistant to getting obese. Even if they are fed ‘the all-American diet’ [a balanced intake] some animals just get obese on this diet. So, what is involved with it? What is different about the genetic makeup of these animals?” says Fazleabas.