What’s the News: Researchers have known for decades that what a woman eats during her pregnancy can impact her child’s weight later in life. Now, a new study shows a possible mechanism for how mom’s diet affects baby’s weight: Epigenetic changes—changes that can increase or decrease the expression of a particular gene but don’t alter the genetic sequence—to a gene involved in fat metabolism can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy.
How the Heck:
The researchers asked nearly 80 pregnant women in Britain about their diets during pregnancy (and checked their blood for traces of some foods, to provide a more objective measure of diet).
At the birth of each child, the researchers took a sample of the child’s DNA from the umbilical cord. They analyzed the DNA for methylation, a common epigenetic change that occurs when a structure called a methyl group latches onto a particular point in a person’s DNA. When the children were nine years old, the researchers measured their body fat.
Children with methylation of a gene called RXR?, which is important in helping fat cells develop normally and in regulating their metabolism, were more likely to be obese than children ...
What’s the News: Anxiety. Insomnia. Hallucinations. Methamphetamine’s effects on the human brain are well documented, but researchers know relatively little about how the drug affects the body on the molecular scale. Looking at fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), scientists have detailed how meth disrupts chemical reactions associated with generating energy, creating sperm cells, and regulating muscles. Most interestingly, they discovered that meth-exposed fruit flies may live longer when they eat sugar. “We know that methamphetamine influences cellular processes associated with aging, it affects spermatogenesis, and it affects the heart,” 
