The importance of the fetal origins of adult disease for geneticists.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize some of the newly recognized in utero factors that interact with gene expression to establish the structural and physiologic processes that will serve the individual long term. These may be common to all mammals and probably reflect evolutionary plasticity, which improves species survival. The concepts of programming, fetal-maternal microchimerism, growth factors, and transgenerational nutritional affects are explored.