Stability of epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of adult-onset disease and parturition abnormalities

What is it about?

The current paper is culmination of over 30 years of research in the area of environmentally induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance. All organisms investigated from microbes to humans can respond to the environment and modify the epigenetics of all cells to shift phenotypic variation and evolution of the organism. When this gets inserted into the embryonic stem cells and germlines, then this can facilitate epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of these phenotypic variations and disease in future generations, through epigenetic transgenerational inheritance. The current study extends the research to 20 generations in a mammalian model using outbred rats. We have shown the phenomenon using 3-5 generations in the past using a wide variety of pesticides and herbicides in the past and all induced transgenerational inheritance of disease. A study last year published demonstrated following 10 ten generations that the disease phenotypes in most tissues were inherited and the same level of disease was observed as found in the 3rd generation after the fungicide vinclozolin was used to expose the F0 generation gestating female only. The current study published in PNAS extended this for 20 generations to follow epigenetics and disease levels. What we found was similar epigenetics in the male sperm and disease level up to the 15 and 16 generation as was found in the previous ten generation animals in testis, ovary, prostate, kidney and obesity pathologies. However, after the 16 generations we started to see increases in the incidence of disease and parturition birth abnormalities occurred in over half the animals at the later generations. This involved the gestating mother and/or all the developing pups dying during the birth process. Therefore, at the 20 generations only a few females and males survived, so we could not continue to further generations due to the parturition birth process defect. This indicates there are long-term effects of our current exposures that started in the 1950s. The 20 generations in humans relates to over 500 years so is not imminent, however, if solutions or removal of exposures are not addressed, then our future generations will be impacted.

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