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. 2011 Jan;12(1):30-4.
doi: 10.1038/embor.2010.199.

In the womb's shadow. The theory of prenatal programming as the fetal origin of various adult diseases is increasingly supported by a wealth of evidence

Silvia Fabiole Nicoletto, Andrea Rinaldi

In the womb's shadow. The theory of prenatal programming as the fetal origin of various adult diseases is increasingly supported by a wealth of evidence

Silvia Fabiole Nicoletto et al. EMBO Rep. 2011 Jan.

Abstract

How does the womb determine the future? Scientists have begun to uncover how environmental and maternal factors influence our long-term health prospects.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Environmental sensitivity of the epigenome throughout life. Adapted from Gluckman et al (2009), with permission.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pathogenetic framework, mechanisms and consequences of perinatal malprogramming, showing the etiological significance of perinatal overfeeding and hyperinsulinism for excess weight gain, obesity, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases in later life. Credit: Andreas Plagemann.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Leonardo Da Vinci: Studies of the fetus in the womb, circa 1510–1513. In Da Vinci's words, referring to his treatise on anatomy, for which these drawings were made: “This work must begin with the conception of man, and describe the nature of the womb and how the fetus lives in it, up to what stage it resides there, and in what way it quickens into life and feeds. Also its growth and what interval there is between one stage of growth and another. What it is that forces it out from the body of the mother, and for what reasons it sometimes comes out of the mother's womb before the due time” (Dunn, 1997).
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