“重量级”科学研究：肥胖乃是命中注定_BEC初级作文

“重量级”科学研究：肥胖乃是命中注定

If you can’t shift those extra pounds, no matter how hard you try, blame your mother. Research suggests we can be programmed to be fat while still in the womb, with a mother-to-be’s lifestyle affecting the health of her baby for years to come。

如果你再怎么努力也减不掉身上那些赘肉，有可能是你老妈的错哦！研究表明，准妈妈的生活习惯会影响婴儿日后的健康。所以，有些人还未出生就注定是个胖子。

It is thought that her diet, the amount she exercises, whether she smokes or drinks alcohol and even which pollutants she is exposed to can alter the DNA of her unborn child. The changes are not to the letters of the code of life itself, but to its ‘punctuation’. These chemical marks can activate, silence or crank up genes and their actions。

据研究，准妈妈饮食习惯、运动量、酗酒抽烟与否，乃至接触过的污染性物质，都可能影响胎儿的DNA。当然，DNA的序列不会改变，只是给孩子的DNA留下印记。这些化学印记可激活、消除或加剧基因活动。

The latest evidence for the theory, which is known as epigenetics, comes from researchers at Newcastle University who analyzed the genes of children aged between nine and 11.

以上研究证据来源自纽卡斯尔大学研究人员提出的“表观遗传学”，他们研究过9-11周岁小孩的基因组织。

They specifically looked for genes that had the same letters but behaved differently in children who were overweight and those who were slim. Blood samples stored since the children’s births were then analyzed. This step showed that in many cases, youngsters who were overweight had displayed different chemical marks on their DNA at birth。