Poisons may pass down generations

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Poisons may pass down generations

 

Chemicals can change the way genes work

 

Toxic chemicals that poisoned your great-grandparents may also damage your

health, US research suggests. A team from Washington State University has

produced evidence that some inherited diseases may be caused by poisons

polluting the womb. Research on rats indicates man-made environmental poisons

may alter genetic activity, giving rise to diseases that pass down at least four

generations. The research is published in the journal Science.

It is a new way to think about disease

 

 

Dr Michael Skinner

 

The scientists exposed pregnant rats to two agricultural chemicals during the

period that the sex of their offspring was being determined. The compounds

were vinclozolin, a fungicide commonly used in vineyards, and the pesticide

methoxychlor. Both are known as endocrine disruptors - chemicals that

interfere with the normal functioning of reproductive hormones. Rats exposed

to the compounds produced male offspring with low sperm counts and poor

fertility. They were still able to produce young, however. When these rats

were then mated with females that had not been exposed to the poisons, their

male offspring had the same problems. The effect persisted through at least

four generations, impairing the fertility of more than 90% of male offspring in

each generation. The researchers found the damage was not caused by

alterations in the DNA code, but changes in the way the genes work. These

epigenetic changes, as they are known, are caused by small chemicals that become

attached to the DNA, modifying its activity. Epigenetic changes have been

observed before - but were not previously known to pass onto later generations.

Cancer clue Lead researcher Dr Michael Skinner believes they may contribute to

diseases such as breast cancer and prostate cancer. We need to

find out whether this trans-generational effect is translated to much lower

doses

 

 

Professor Alan Boobis

 

Both diseases are becoming more common, and Dr Skinner says that cannot be down

to genetic mutations alone. The researchers believe their findings suggest

exposure to environmental toxins may play a key role in the evolutionary

process. Evolution may not be driven entirely by genetic mutations, as

commonly thought. Dr Skinner said: " It is a new way to think about disease. We

believe this phenomenon will be widespread and be a major factor in

understanding how disease develops. " However, Dr Skinner stressed more work

was needed to corroborate the findings. The levels of chemicals the rats were

exposed to were very high - much higher than people normally ever encounter.

Professor Alan Boobis, a toxicologist at Imperial College London, UK, told the

BBC News website the findings were interesting, but he said there was no need

for people to be alarmed. " This effect is likely to be concentration

dependent, and these animals were exposed to very high levels of chemicals, " he

said. " We need to find out whether this trans-generational effect is

translated to much lower doses. "

 

 

 

 

" If people let the government decide what foods they eat

and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as

the souls who live under tyranny. "

- Thomas Jefferson

 

 

 

 

 

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