Genes in Conflict

Carl Zimmer at The Loom has a fascinating piece in The New York Times this week about genomic imprinting–a process by which either the mother’s or the father’s variant of the gene is silenced–and its influence on fetal development.

[Dr. Lawrence Wilkinson of the University of Cambridge] suspects that conflict between imprinted brain genes may add to the risk for mental disorders, from autism to depression. Because one copy of each of these genes is silenced, they may be more vulnerable. “If you ask me, do I think that imprinted genes are likely in the next 10 years to crop up as mechanisms in mental disorders, I’d say yes,” he said.

The basic hypothesis is that certain genes are silenced to control fetal growth so the baby doesn’t get too large for the mother to be able to sustain him/her. Imprinting is an attempt to balance the welfare of the fetus and the mother.

In struggle with our parents from the moment of conception. Sounds about right.

Technorati Tags: imprinting, genetics, genes, health, disease, dna