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.

Comments

It takes a village, but all cultures are equal

[Gothmolly]

I'm torn on this one. On 1 hand, anything a mother does has to be right by default, and all cultures and belief systems are equally valid, and feelings trump cold hard facts, but this seems pretty damning. How is a 21st century white guy supposed to react to this completely obvious news? Where do I focus my outrage?