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Developmental plasticity and human health

Developmental plasticity and human health
Developmental plasticity and human health
Many plants and animals are capable of developing in a variety of ways, forming characteristics that are well adapted to the environments in which they are likely to live. In adverse circumstances, for example, small size and slow metabolism can facilitate survival, whereas larger size and more rapid metabolism have advantages for reproductive success when resources are more abundant. Often these characteristics are induced in early life or are even set by cues to which their parents or grandparents were exposed. Individuals developmentally adapted to one environment may, however, be at risk when exposed to another when they are older. The biological evidence may be relevant to the understanding of human development and susceptibility to disease. As the nutritional state of many human mothers has improved around the world, the characteristics of their offspring—such as body size and metabolism—have also changed. Responsiveness to their mothers' condition before birth may generally prepare individuals so that they are best suited to the environment forecast by cues available in early life. Paradoxically, however, rapid improvements in nutrition and other environmental conditions may have damaging effects on the health of those people whose parents and grandparents lived in impoverished conditions. A fuller understanding of patterns of human plasticity in response to early nutrition and other environmental factors will have implications for the administration of public health.
0028-0836
419-421
Bateson, Patrick
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Barker, David
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Clutton-Brock, Timothy
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Deb, Debal
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D'Udine, Bruno
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Foley, Robert A.
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Gluckman, Peter D.
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Godfrey, Keith M.
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Kirkwood, Tom
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Mirazón-Lahr, Marta Mirazón
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McNamara, John
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Metcalfe, Neil B.
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Monaghan, Patricia
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Spencer, Hamish G.
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Sultan, Sonia E.
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Bateson, Patrick
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Barker, David
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Clutton-Brock, Timothy
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Deb, Debal
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D'Udine, Bruno
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Foley, Robert A.
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Gluckman, Peter D.
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Godfrey, Keith M.
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Kirkwood, Tom
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Mirazón-Lahr, Marta Mirazón
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McNamara, John
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Metcalfe, Neil B.
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Monaghan, Patricia
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Spencer, Hamish G.
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Sultan, Sonia E.
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Bateson, Patrick, Barker, David, Clutton-Brock, Timothy, Deb, Debal, D'Udine, Bruno, Foley, Robert A., Gluckman, Peter D., Godfrey, Keith M., Kirkwood, Tom, Mirazón-Lahr, Marta Mirazón, McNamara, John, Metcalfe, Neil B., Monaghan, Patricia, Spencer, Hamish G. and Sultan, Sonia E. (2004) Developmental plasticity and human health. Nature, 430 (6998), 419-421. (doi:10.1038/nature02725).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Many plants and animals are capable of developing in a variety of ways, forming characteristics that are well adapted to the environments in which they are likely to live. In adverse circumstances, for example, small size and slow metabolism can facilitate survival, whereas larger size and more rapid metabolism have advantages for reproductive success when resources are more abundant. Often these characteristics are induced in early life or are even set by cues to which their parents or grandparents were exposed. Individuals developmentally adapted to one environment may, however, be at risk when exposed to another when they are older. The biological evidence may be relevant to the understanding of human development and susceptibility to disease. As the nutritional state of many human mothers has improved around the world, the characteristics of their offspring—such as body size and metabolism—have also changed. Responsiveness to their mothers' condition before birth may generally prepare individuals so that they are best suited to the environment forecast by cues available in early life. Paradoxically, however, rapid improvements in nutrition and other environmental conditions may have damaging effects on the health of those people whose parents and grandparents lived in impoverished conditions. A fuller understanding of patterns of human plasticity in response to early nutrition and other environmental factors will have implications for the administration of public health.

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More information

Published date: 2004
Additional Information: Hypothesis

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 25245
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/25245
ISSN: 0028-0836
PURE UUID: 3e28f761-11cb-4975-82eb-49618d280de9
ORCID for Keith M. Godfrey: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4643-0618

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Date deposited: 10 Apr 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:42

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Contributors

Author: Patrick Bateson
Author: David Barker
Author: Timothy Clutton-Brock
Author: Debal Deb
Author: Bruno D'Udine
Author: Robert A. Foley
Author: Peter D. Gluckman
Author: Tom Kirkwood
Author: Marta Mirazón Mirazón-Lahr
Author: John McNamara
Author: Neil B. Metcalfe
Author: Patricia Monaghan
Author: Hamish G. Spencer
Author: Sonia E. Sultan

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