Mother's quest could help solve autism mystery

[Auggie]

7. Hi SheilaT

At issue in this thread are not chemicals you may have ingested but those ingested by your mother when she was pregnant with you, specifically, a synthetic estrogen called DES, or diethylstilbestrol.

A single womb exposure could induce defects that could be transmitted to the next two generations.

Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype, caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence—hence the name epi- (Greek: επί- over, above, outer) -genetics. Some of these changes have been shown to be heritable.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics