‘You are what you eat’ is a proverb that resonates with many of us, but equally relevant (although perhaps not quite so familiar) are ‘You are what your parents ate’ and ‘You are what your grandparents ate’.
Strange as the latter two sayings may appear, they are based firmly on scientific fact. As more becomes known about the relationships between the genes we inherit from our parents and the environment in which we develop, it has become clear that our predisposition to certain diseases or ill health in later life has much to do with our development in the womb and our early years as it does with our choices in later life.
‘Developmental science’ is the name given to the relatively new discipline investigating human development from the womb through to later life. Its advocates believe that the answers surrounding some of the healthcare sector’s most pressing problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity lie in roots laid down before we are even born.
At Southampton, our new Institute of Developmental Sciences (IDS) was opened in September 2007. At a cost of £9m, the Institute brings together the previously dispersed labs of our Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Division. It also encompasses experts from the division of Human Genetics, which specialises in stem cell research and cardiac development.
The IDS and its work can be traced back to original research started 20 years ago by Southampton Professor, David Barker. His research showed that small body size at birth and during infancy is associated with increased rates of coronary heart disease and its major biological risk factors - raised blood pressure, impaired glucose tolerance and abnormalities in lipid metabolism and blood coagulation.
