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HOW DOES MATERNAL CARE SHAPE ADULT DNA?

A new report from the Salk Institute concludes that maternal care a person receives as a child shapes their DNA as an adult.

For the research scientists tested mice and looked specifically at their L1 genes.

They found that there is a link between neglectful mothers and a higher number of L1 copies within offspring.

Researchers discovered that the amount of copies of the L1 gene a person has could be linked to the maternal care they received as a child. Scientists used mice to test this theory

Researchers discovered that the amount of copies of the L1 gene a person has could be linked to the maternal care they received as a child. Scientists used mice to test this theory

But they aren't sure if there are consequences beyond this link.

The study said: 'The researchers emphasized that at this point it's unclear whether there are functional consequences of increased L1 elements.

'Future work will examine whether the mice's performance on cognitive tests, such as remembering which path in a maze leads to a treat, can be correlated with the number of L1 genes.' 

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