Professor Rebecca Robker, Discipline Lead of Reproduction and Development within the University of Adelaide’s School of Biomedicine and Robinson Research Institute, co-led a team which conducted a pre-clinical trial and found that cellular processes within the egg at the time of fertilisation determine the telomere length in the offspring.

“Telomeres are the parts of chromosomes that influence growth and rejuvenation of our tissues,” said Professor Robker.

“Some babies are born with shorter telomeres than others, increasing their lifetime risk of chronic diseases associated with ageing.

“As just one example, shorter telomeres are observed in children of women with obesity or metabolic syndrome. As adults, these individuals are at increased risk of premature mortality from cardiovascular events, like a heart attack or stroke, even when they are not obese themselves.

“Until now it has not been clear how the length of telomeres is determined before birth.”

Reduced telomere length can be caused by embryonic cellular damage.

“There are specific types of cellular damage during the very first days of embryo development which cause the defect in the telomeres of the embryo, which causes them to be shorter at the time of birth,” said study co-lead Dr Yasmyn Winstanley.

“The process is highly responsive to signals from the mother’s body. Our findings show maternal health and environmental conditions at the time of conception can have long-term consequences and can even influence the offspring’s susceptibility versus resilience to ageing-associated diseases in later life.

“These findings highlight that the health of the women and girls should be a major focus of public health policies.”

Professor Robker said the research, which is published in Nature Communications, also found it is possible to reverse the cellular damage and restore telomere length.

“We provide proof-of-concept that DNA resetting can be modulated in embryos where it is deficient, using currently available drugs, to influence telomere length at birth, which is a major marker of lifetime ageing,” said Professor Robker.

“Our identification of specific pharmaceutical compounds that can modulate telomeres during preconception and immediately following fertilisation, means that there are therapeutic opportunities to optimise this biology, which is a key determinant of chronic disease risk.”

The researchers are now working with Vitaleon Pharma to develop these new findings into therapies for reproductive medicine and use by fertility specialists.