Smoking Mothers May Alter the DNA of Their Children

sciencehabit (1205606) writes "Pregnant women who smoke don't just harm the health of their baby—they may actually impair their child's DNA, according to new research. A genetic analysis shows that the children of mothers who smoke harbor far more chemical modifications of their genome — known as epigenetic changes — than kids of non-smoking mothers. Many of these are on genes tied to addiction and fetal development. The finding may explain why the children of smokers continue to suffer health complications later in life.

Smoking Mothers are Smoking!

[Irate Engineer]

Probably why they are Mothers in the first place.

Dangling participles anyone?

[KitFox]

Title got my attention and worried me a little bit.

So do you need to smoke the mother before or after she's given birth to alter her childrens' DNA?

Totally against smoking mothers

[haruchai]

steaming, sauteing, or even poaching will keep them plump & juicy

I quit smoking many years ago...

[The Grim Reefer]

But being a man, I was always smart about which cigarettes I bought. I never bought the ones that caused cancer and all that other scary shit. I only smoked the ones that caused low birth weight and pregnancy complications. I figured since I would never be pregnant, those were the ones to go with. I could never figure out why the brands would keep switching though. ;-)

Re:Smokers

[Pino Grigio]

Muff Divers are at higher risk of throat cancer. Ban Muff Diving, yes.