High-sugar diet in fathers can lead to obese offspring
Thursday, December 4, 2014 - 16:00
in Biology & Nature
Increasing sugar in the diet of male fruit flies for just one or two days before mating can cause obesity in their offspring through alterations that affect gene expression in the embryo. There is also evidence that a similar system regulates obesity susceptibility in mice and humans. The research provides insights into how certain metabolic traits are inherited and may help investigators determine whether they can be altered.