Epigenetics as the mediator of fetal programming of adult onset disease: What is the evidence?

Abstract

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis describes how early life environmental factors influence development in a way that impacts later health and disease risk. The hypothesis is supported by a large number of animal studies and a smaller number of observational studies in humans. Epigenetic variation induced in early life has emerged as a prime candidate to be the mediator of such effects, but little direct evidence of this relation exists in humans, primarily due to the inherent problems associated with unraveling the relative contributions of genetic and environmental variables to phenotypic diversity. There are several prerequisites for establishing a causal link that..