Environmental Influence On Epigenetics

By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It is called epigenetics. This is where at the microscopic level the genes should function normal but something in the environment causes them to malfunction. Now there is new information that suggests that the environment your ancestors lived in and the different chemicals such as pesticides and fungicides they were exposed to could affect a woman's ovaries.

Washington State University has found that exposure to chemicals in the environment can result in passing along bad genes to new generations. Three generations of rats were studied, which found that there were fewer eggs in offspring and higher amounts of polycystic ovarian syndrome after the grandmother rat was exposed to environmental chemicals.

The bottom line is that it shows the role of the environment.