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Epigenetics hits the mainstream
Back in February, 2009 EWG's Olga Naidenko wrote an excellent piece here on Enviroblog about epigenetics and environmental chemical exposures. She began the post with the heart of the matter:
Prenatal exposures to environmental pollutants may lead to chronic diseases later in life.
She went on to succinctly explain how:
Toxic effects of environmental pollution on human health are well recognized. Yet, for a long time conventional wisdom held that a child developing in the womb is sufficiently protected and insulated by the placenta from harmful pollutants outside.This expectation no longer holds - we know now that the developing fetus is exposed to hundreds of industrial pollutants that find their way from the mother's body across the placenta, into the umbilical cord blood and then into the growing body of the child, as demonstrated by the ground-breaking research conducted by EWG in 2005 and 2009.
This week, epigenetics hit the mainstream by making the cover of TIME magazine with an article titled "Why genes aren't destiny."
If you're one of those people who prefers to watch and listen over reading, NOVA has a great video explaining epigenetics, too.
Something for everyone on epigenetics, one of TIME's Top 10 Scientific Discoveries of 2009.
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