"You can modify genes without changing their basic structure by adding or subtracting small substances to them," Novak said. "You can produce similar changes in the proteins that bind genes. Genes are tightly wound around proteins; if those proteins are altered in certain ways, it's more difficult for the gene to be active or for new proteins to be made from the gene. We're looking at changes in those areas."

In one study, UF researchers fed one group of pregnant rats a low-protein diet and another group a normal diet. Their male and female offspring were then mated with normal rats; the pregnant females were fed a normal diet. Their offspring, in effect, the "grandchildren" of the rats originally fed a low-protein diet, weighed significantly more and tended to be less adept at handling alterations in blood sugar levels than rats whose "grandmothers" were fed a normal diet. The take-home message: nutrition during pregnancy influenced the health of rat offspring in adulthood - and also affected the health of future generations.

"The really exciting thing is that when these female rats mate and have their babies, the same thing begins to happen to their babies," Neu said. "It's a generational thing. The question is what the mechanism of this is. This is a part of the whole new very exciting area of epigenetics."

In another study, researchers at UF, the University of Utah and the University Medical Center of Nantes, France, found that rats that received a high-protein diet during infancy showed signs of insulin resistance in adulthood, which is associated with the development of type 2 diabetes.

"These findings, while preliminary, point to areas which require further investigation," Novak said. "Specifically, the mechanisms by which dietary intake alters both the modification and expression of genes, the 'critical periods' during pregnancy and early life during which these modifications may occur, and the mechanisms by which such changes are propagated from generation to generation are critical issues if effective therapies are to be defined."

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