Environment and the Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Disease
Ingrid Sadler-Riggleman and Michael K. Skinner
from: Epigenetics: Current Research and Emerging Trends (Edited by: Brian P. Chadwick). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2015) Pages: 297-306.
Abstract
Environmental factors can lead to transgenerational epigenetic changes in generations originating from ancestors exposed to environmental insults such as toxicants, abnormal nutrition or stress. These epigenetic germline changes can in turn increase disease susceptibility in offspring of exposed ancestors. The focus of this chapter is on environmentally induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of disease. The molecular mechanisms that allow these inherited epimutations to increase disease susceptibility will be reviewed. Environmental exposure specificity and exposure-specific disease development are also discussed read more ...
