So you're obese? SUE YOUR GRANDFATHER!

We all more or less know the basic principles of genetics - we inherit our physical traits from our parents and thats why we look like them.

However, scientists have long suspected that its not only the genes that get passed down that expresses itself in the offspring, but environmental factors do play a part as well. What your parents eat and do may affect you in some way not yet known. Well some are obvious, like fetal alcohol syndrome, others not so.

Then came epigenetics. Epigenetics basically explains how everyday events like stress, the food we eat and the things we choose to indulge in may actually influence how our genes are expressed in our offspring. It does not involve any changes in the genetic code though.

An article in the Times magazine goes on to elaborate about this :

- In rare overabundant winters in Sweden, kids who went from normal eating habits to gluttony in a single season produced sons and grandsons who live shorter lives.

- Those boys who endured a poor harvest had grandchildren who live on average 6 years longer than those who had overabundant harvests.

- Boys who were early smokers ( before age 11-prepuberty, before sperm production) eventually produced children who have significantly higher body mass indexes than other boys their age, most likely raising their risk of obesity and other health problems in the future as well.

What this ultimately validates is that every action in this world will bear a consequence, whether immediate or delayed. Can you imagine what it will be like in the future when epigenetics is more widely studied? If you can sue your employer and prove that your lung cancer is caused by exposure to hazardous materials in your line of work that the employer has closed one eye to... then you might as well sue your grandfather for his lack of judgement when he was barely a teenager!

moar funny pictures

That is if he is still around by then...