Evidence of non-genetic transgenerational inheritance on child development

What is it about?

Evidence for non-genetic transgenerational inheritance is increasing. The term relates to the influence of an exposure in one generation on outcomes in succeeding generations, in the absence of changes to the structure of DNA. Previous research has shown that this phenomenon exists in plants and animals, and this chapter describes evidence that it also occurs in humans. It reviews observational published data concentrating on environmental exposures such as famine, cigarette smoking and ionising radiation and describes the associations between pre-conception and prenatal exposures and outcomes in the offspring and grandchildren.

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Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

Why is it important?

In this chapter we demonstrate: (a) frequent evidence of sex-specific differences depending on whether it is the maternal or paternal ancestor who was exposed; (b) that the timing of exposure is often more important for specific outcomes, especially in the 4-5 years prior to puberty for pre-conception exposures and the trimester of pregnancy for prenatal exposures; and (c) that exposures that are harmful to one generation often have a beneficial effect on a subsequent generation. We encourage future epidemiological studies to collect information on previous and/or subsequent generations to enable the measurement of transgenerational consequences of potentially harmful exposures such as specific medications and pesticides.

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