Father's diet can affect babies before conception

THE nutritional effects of diet can be visited on children through a father's sperm, research has suggested.

Studies involving mice showed a male parent's eating habits might alter the metabolism of offspring he had never met. Significantly, the findings rule out the possibility of social influence.

Scientists still do not know how the mechanism works but believe some kind of nutritional signal must be carried through the sperm that helps to shape early development.

The findings lend support to the theory that environmental factors can trigger heritable genetic effects that are carried down through generations.

Evidence for "epigenetic" influence has already been seen in a number of animal and human studies. The most striking human research, from Sweden, suggested a grandfather's poor diet increased the risk of diabetes, obesity and heart disease in second-generation children.

But in these studies, it was impossible to be sure the effects were not caused by social and economic influences.

In the new research, scientists focused on the activity of genes in mice whose fathers were fed a low-protein diet as they were growing up. They found hundreds of genes were altered in offspring sired by the protein-starved males.

Livers from the offspring showed numerous differences depending on the diet their fathers were given. They included chemical modification of a DNA sequence that affects cholesterol and fat synthesis in the liver.

The research was carried out at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Boston, US.