Epigenetics Readings

Question 1

mother’s prenatal diet

Answer 1

• if the pregnant mom had a low-carb diet, this put the child at risk for obesity
• when the baby was developing, perhaps it was silencing some of the genes associated with digesting carbs because it didn’t have a need to digest carbs
• if there’s an environmental demand, we might express something, if not, we may not express it

Question 2

mice who feared cherry blossom scent

Answer 2

• researchers trained mice to fear this scent (feared it was poisonous). Then they mated the male mice, and their offspring also feared cherry blossom
• babies were never trained to fear cherry blossom, it was passed down genetically -> phobias can be passed down
• real-world application: to what extent can phobias and things like PTSD be passed down from fathers to children?