Green Options

New research suggests that pollution from traffic can ‘reprogram’ genes in the womb, increasing the risk for asthma. The study is the first to link pollution to genetic changes, although researchers say that more studies are needed to confirm the findings.

The study, published in PLoS ONE Journal, looked at ACSL3, a gene expressed in the lung, and its association with asthma in children at or around age 5. The mothers’ exposure (while pregnant) to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was recorded, and the umbilical cord blood from their children was examined for the modified gene.

“Our data support the concept that environmental exposures can interact with genes during key developmental periods to trigger disease onset later in life, and that tissues are being reprogrammed to become abnormal later.” - Dr Shuk-mei Ho, study leader and director of the Center for Environmental Genetics at the University of Cincinnati.

Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) is a San Francisco, CA based system of 41 hospitals and medical centers in California, Nevada, and Arizona.

This national leading Catholic hospital system is now leading the nation in more ways than one.

CHW has made the decision to use food suppliers who have agreed to seek out alternatives to foods made with genetically engineered (GE) ingredients or cloned animals.

Included in CHW’s new food policy is GE sugar beets, which just recently have been introduced into the nation’s food supply, as well as meat and dairy products from cloned animals, which the FDA has decided to allow.