Gender specific disease risks start in the womb

Pregnancy places competing demands on a mother’s physiology: Her body wants to produce a healthy baby but not at the expense of her own health. Therefore, she passes so-called “imprinted genes” on to her child to protect her body from excessive demands from the child. Genes inherited from the father, however, aim at getting as many resources for the fetus as possible. This battle of genes might be at the root of later life diseases.

Read the whole article on Science Daily

More from Science Daily