Epigenetic programming of metabolic health across the life-course

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We aim to understand why babies who are exposed to a poor diet in the womb are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes or become obese as adults. Obesity and associated conditions like type 2 diabetes are major health problems in the UK and western countries, influencing both quality and quantity of life. Approximately one third of the adult population in the UK are obese and over 4 million people in the UK are affected by diabetes. We know that how well a baby is nourished in the womb is one factor that influences how likely they are to develop type 2 diabetes and obesity as adults. Therefore, it is very important to understand how early diet has such effects as this may help us develop new medicines for these common conditions. We know that one way in which a poor diet during early life impacts on health is through “epigenetic” processes. This is the way the environment controls which parts of DNA are used to make proteins and therefore how well a cell works. Recent advances in genome research allow us to look at the epigenetic regulation of all the genes in our DNA (~22,000). In this project we will use these technological advances to identify faulty genes that cause metabolic diseases because of poor early diet.