A good egg (and sperm)

The importance of the genetic health of both eggs and sperm at the time of fertilisation has long been recognised, and there has been an increasing understanding of the importance of the environment before and around the time of conception. The mum-to-be's environment can permanently change the function of a gene, influencing, for example, immunity and the risk of cancer in her child. Diet and nutrition are likely to play a role in this.

While a baby's genes are inherited directly from its parents, how these genes express themselves is controlled through epigenetic changes to the DNA. The most commonly studied epigenetic changes researched are chemical marks called "methylation", which are placed on the genes and changes in methylation can often prevent expression of certain genes. Because methylation requires a defined set of nutrients, a mother's nutrition and diet before and during pregnancy can affect the setting of these changes, thus affecting the baby's gene function permanently....BIUY BUMP&baby ISSUE 1 FOR THE FULL STORY