0:00:07 > 0:00:09Across the world, tens of thousands of people
0:00:09 > 0:00:13have been part of a truly remarkable scientific project.
0:00:13 > 0:00:19It's altering our understanding of what made you the way you are today.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25Scientists think they have discovered in these people's lives
0:00:25 > 0:00:29the secret of a healthy, happy, long life...
0:00:29 > 0:00:31for all of us.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38Studying our journeys from baby to adulthood
0:00:38 > 0:00:42is revealing the most important part of your life,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45maybe one you can't even remember.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48The nine months before you were born.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50When we think of what makes us unique,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52we don't tend to think of life before birth,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54but we're finding out that life before birth
0:00:54 > 0:00:57is actually shaping who we are and who we become.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06The importance of those crucial months before birth
0:01:06 > 0:01:11has become one of the most powerful and provocative new ideas in science.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16The whole idea was extremely controversial.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18It blew me away, actually.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21It was an incredible idea, a real paradigm shift.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Understanding what happened to us in the mysterious world of the womb
0:01:30 > 0:01:34holds the promise of living not just longer lives,
0:01:34 > 0:01:36but healthier and happier ones.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59This is the story of one man's struggle to unravel our destiny.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08It begins in Britain over 20 years ago.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Professor David Barker
0:02:16 > 0:02:18had spent much of his life as a practising doctor,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20and he thought he'd discovered
0:02:20 > 0:02:25a way to predict the future of each and every one of us.
0:02:34 > 0:02:40He began to test this idea on the people in this room.
0:02:44 > 0:02:50They're not part of a scientific research group or a hi-tech lab.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55They are simply people who happen to be born in Hertfordshire.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Very evocative.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04This reminds me of the way I used to go to school.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08I used to walk along a road past a ford every day,
0:03:08 > 0:03:15and then in the summer we would play in it just like these children do.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17He believed from the moment they were born,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21scientific predictions could be made about these people's lives.
0:03:21 > 0:03:27I think their destiny is in large part already wrought.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Much of their lifetime's well-being
0:03:31 > 0:03:35and ability - mental ability, physical ability and health -
0:03:35 > 0:03:37is already determined.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41How long they would live.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43How healthy they would be.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Whether they would have a happy and fulfilled old age.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Well, these people are clearly fit.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53If you're still able to run and win cups at 70,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56you had a strong constitution.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00He believed he could make these predictions
0:04:00 > 0:04:04using only the information contained in these books -
0:04:06 > 0:04:09the birth records of the county of Hertfordshire.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15The books record the birth weights
0:04:15 > 0:04:18and the weights at one of these men and women,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21and in those measurements
0:04:21 > 0:04:25lie a description of the life that lies ahead of them,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27in terms of health.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30David Barker believed that in these records
0:04:30 > 0:04:33he had found a simple and powerful link
0:04:33 > 0:04:38between a low weight at birth and heart disease in later life.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41The babies who go on to develop coronary heart disease
0:04:41 > 0:04:44were not abnormal in any way.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49When they were born, their arrival was greeted with the usual enthusiasm.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51But they were already marked.
0:04:54 > 0:05:01The idea that future health was linked to birth weight became known as the Barker theory,
0:05:01 > 0:05:03and it sounded too simple to be true.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09That's the first time I've actually heard that,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11that your weight at birth determines what health risk
0:05:11 > 0:05:14you're going to have later on in life. That's weird.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Really? No.
0:05:18 > 0:05:19No, I haven't, no.
0:05:21 > 0:05:22I would not think that
0:05:22 > 0:05:27that had any relation to a disease later in your life.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30I think it's more to do with lifestyle factors and things as you grow old,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33so that your weight when you're a child I can't imagine
0:05:33 > 0:05:36would have a big impact on those kind of factors when you're older.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40Critics of the Barker theory
0:05:40 > 0:05:43thought there were other explanations for our health
0:05:43 > 0:05:46and well-being in later life.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Conventional wisdom said we turned out the way we did
0:05:49 > 0:05:51because of what we ate as children,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55or the lifestyle choices we made as adults.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00From diet to exercise,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03we were encouraged to take control of our own destiny,
0:06:03 > 0:06:08and that a long and happy life would be the result.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15But David Barker believed birth weight
0:06:15 > 0:06:20was more important than lifestyle when it came to future health.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25His task was to turn conventional wisdom on its head.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36To silence his critics, David embarked on a worldwide search.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45He has travelled to the four corners of the globe
0:06:45 > 0:06:48to find crucial evidence to back up his provocative theory.
0:06:52 > 0:06:53Because to prove this theory,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58he needed to show that his ideas held true
0:06:58 > 0:07:01on every continent and for each and every one of us.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08We're trying to establish really core truths
0:07:08 > 0:07:12which would apply anywhere in the world,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15and no-one is going to think that findings
0:07:15 > 0:07:20that are based on a southern county in England
0:07:20 > 0:07:22represent the globe,
0:07:22 > 0:07:27and the only thing you can do to offset that reasonable criticism
0:07:27 > 0:07:28is to go out and do it.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38In 1995, one of the key pieces of evidence for the Barker theory
0:07:38 > 0:07:43emerged from one of the most crowded countries in the world.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45By a quirk of fate, the people here
0:07:45 > 0:07:50followed every piece of healthy living advice you can think of.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54According to conventional wisdom, these Indian villagers
0:07:54 > 0:07:57had made all the right choices to lead a long and healthy life.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05And yet they were getting diseases
0:08:05 > 0:08:08normally seen in unhealthy, overweight people.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10This was a real puzzle for us.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14They are thin, they are eating the vegetables they grow in their farms.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19They walk long distances, they work in the farms,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21and that's the puzzle.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24These people are anything but overweight and obese.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29Professor Ranjan Yajnik is a world-renowned diabetes specialist.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34And he's facing a diabetes epidemic in India.
0:08:39 > 0:08:40In the Western world,
0:08:40 > 0:08:46type-2 diabetes is seen as a disease of lifestyle.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48It's associated with being overweight,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52a lack of exercise and an unhealthy diet.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56But Ranjan's patients didn't fit that pattern.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02The Western textbooks I read as a medical student
0:09:02 > 0:09:05told me that diabetic patients were fat and overweight,
0:09:05 > 0:09:09but you come to the clinic in the rural hospital
0:09:09 > 0:09:12and these are the people who fill up our clinics.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16They have a lot of diabetes and heart disease.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28The lifestyle of Ranjan's patients
0:09:28 > 0:09:31should have given them a long and healthy old age.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35It couldn't explain why so many of them
0:09:35 > 0:09:38were falling victim to type-2 diabetes.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42But for one person, lifestyle was clearly not the answer.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50According to David Barker, a low weight at birth
0:09:50 > 0:09:55could be linked to later health problems like diabetes.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58BABY CRIES
0:10:01 > 0:10:06And in India, there was no shortage of low birth weight children.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23Was the key to the disease already there in these tiny babies?
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Ranjan and his colleagues decided to find out if the Barker theory
0:10:32 > 0:10:35might explain what they were seeing.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40Well, there was a lot of scepticism at that stage
0:10:40 > 0:10:43because we had learnt as paediatricians at that time
0:10:43 > 0:10:48that low birth weight is associated with poverty and malnutrition,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52whereas diabetes and hypertension are diseases of affluence,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54diseases of lifestyle.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56So how were the two going together?
0:10:56 > 0:11:00I was trained as an adult diabetes specialist
0:11:00 > 0:11:03and I was even more sceptical of this idea
0:11:03 > 0:11:06because we equated diabetes with over-nutrition.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10So David Barker was describing the other end of the spectrum.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13We do have a large number of low birth weights
0:11:13 > 0:11:16and we are having a large number of diabetics.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20So we are probably in a good position to test his hypothesis,
0:11:20 > 0:11:21so why not try it?
0:11:26 > 0:11:31Ranjan and his colleagues began to follow a group of babies
0:11:31 > 0:11:35to see if their birth weight could be linked to later diabetes.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Babies were measured when they were born,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46then at four years of age, and again at eight years.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51The scientists were looking for early signs of diabetes -
0:11:51 > 0:11:54for instance, a resistance to insulin.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59The first step was to show
0:11:59 > 0:12:04that birth weight was related to insulin resistance.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08And we did tests by studying 200 children born in our hospital.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15The children from that original study are now 21.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21The scientists have records of their growth from the day they were born,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24as well as a library of blood samples.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29It is these blood samples
0:12:29 > 0:12:33that allowed the scientists to find an early indicator of diabetes.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41A low birth weight seemed to be linked to a resistance to insulin.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47So children whom we had found to be low birth weight,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50they are more insulin-resistant at four years.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54They were more insulin-resistant at eight years,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57and they are still insulin-resistant at 21 years.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01With passage of years, their blood glucose has started rising.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05There are other changes we can observe in the blood
0:13:05 > 0:13:10which tell us that their risk of getting diabetes is now much higher
0:13:10 > 0:13:14than their colleagues who were not low birth weight.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Ranjan was beginning to be converted to David Barker's
0:13:22 > 0:13:24seemingly strange idea
0:13:24 > 0:13:28that what happens to you in the womb affects your destiny.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34So David's idea that part of your destiny
0:13:34 > 0:13:36was sealed before you are born
0:13:36 > 0:13:41was difficult to understand for Westerners, but not for me.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46As an Indian, I believed that what happened in your earlier life,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48what your parents did,
0:13:48 > 0:13:52actually had a bearing on what happens to you in your life.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54This is the theory of karma.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01This study was a crucial piece of evidence
0:14:01 > 0:14:04to support David Barker's theory.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09But the real power of the Barker theory
0:14:09 > 0:14:13was that it didn't just apply to very tiny babies.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18The predictive power of birth weight applies to us all.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21What was surprising about these early data
0:14:21 > 0:14:24was that there was a graded relationship
0:14:24 > 0:14:26across a whole normal range of birth weight,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30so it was better to be a seven-pound baby than a six-pound baby,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and better to be an eight than a seven and better to be a nine than an eight-pound baby,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38and that is profound.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41What this suggested was that there was an element of destiny
0:14:41 > 0:14:45to the future health of each and every one of us.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Look, look around you.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54Clearly there are people on very unhealthy lifestyles,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56who live long lives and have good constitutions,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00and for them healthy lifestyles may not matter so much.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03But there are other people who are highly vulnerable,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05who have poor constitutions,
0:15:05 > 0:15:07and for them the lifestyle is the way forward.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09That is what will protect them.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13An idea that began in Hertfordshire was starting to
0:15:13 > 0:15:16reveal universal truths about how our future health
0:15:16 > 0:15:19was determined before we were even born,
0:15:19 > 0:15:24and what's true of health may extend to our personality.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Oh, my goodness, for each of them?
0:15:29 > 0:15:33I have two children and from day one their personalities came out.
0:15:33 > 0:15:39I have three children. My oldest is very outgoing,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43my middle child is very wild and adventurous
0:15:43 > 0:15:49and my youngest is the easy-going, carefree child.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51Only a fortune-teller
0:15:51 > 0:15:54would attempt to predict the person we will become
0:15:54 > 0:15:56well before we were even born.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Before we could speak.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03Before we'd even met our mother face to face.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Yet many pregnant women think they can.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09I have one child
0:16:09 > 0:16:13and she was just a diva from before she was even born.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16While they were in the womb, they were very different.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19This one's definitely calm like my first,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22but strong like my second.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29Janet DiPietro is putting this mother's intuition to the test.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34She's a mother of three and a developmental psychologist.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41She wants to discover how much of our future character is formed
0:16:41 > 0:16:44before we've even experienced the world.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49Her work begins by trying to give what is, in effect,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52a personality test to an unborn baby.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56So in adults and young people and children,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00when we want to look at individual differences,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04what we often do is put them in a new situation to see how they react
0:17:04 > 0:17:06because how people react to things
0:17:06 > 0:17:08is a big component of what makes them unique.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14To unpick the personality question,
0:17:14 > 0:17:19Janet needed a way to test the reactions of unborn babies.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23She started by looking at the way these tests
0:17:23 > 0:17:24were conducted in children.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Some of the 900 babies that have passed through her lab
0:17:33 > 0:17:36are now five years old, and they're back
0:17:36 > 0:17:38to undergo more testing.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Right here.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43It's just telling us about how your body's working, OK?
0:17:48 > 0:17:51The experiments put the children
0:17:51 > 0:17:53in unusual situations to see how they react.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56- Woof.- Good.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Asking them to miaow when they see a dog.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Or getting them to share with adults, who start to behave
0:18:04 > 0:18:06like greedy children.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08..Give you one, and then I'll take two.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10One, two.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13At five, differences in personality begin to show
0:18:13 > 0:18:18in the way children respond to these unusual circumstances.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20You can see it in their behaviour
0:18:20 > 0:18:23and in their heart rates and stress levels.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28But I really like these candies, so I'm going to take two. One, two.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30I like them, too!
0:18:30 > 0:18:31You do?
0:18:31 > 0:18:34I'm going to give you one, but I'll take four more.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37- No! You're taking all of it! - One, two, three, four.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41'That little boy was almost a little bit more intellectual.'
0:18:41 > 0:18:47He was adamant when he had his expectations about sharing...
0:18:47 > 0:18:50broken, and so he said "no" immediately,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54'and then he sort of moved on and he watched what was happening
0:18:54 > 0:18:58'with the investigator, but he was really more adamant.'
0:18:58 > 0:19:00What do you think about that?
0:19:00 > 0:19:01No.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08'Whereas if we look at the first little boy...'
0:19:08 > 0:19:11What do you think about that, if I take all of them?
0:19:17 > 0:19:20..you can see that he really feels what's going on,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24so he'll experience that very differently in his body, too.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27I really like them, but I think I'll get a stomach ache
0:19:27 > 0:19:29if I eat them all.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Some of us react very emotionally to changes in circumstances.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Our heart rates and stress levels soar.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43While others seem to have no trouble keeping their body under control.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46The characteristics that distinguish all of us
0:19:46 > 0:19:49are how we react to things
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and then how we recover after something happens.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55Those are called the core features of temperament.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58We can see them in six-month-olds, we can see them in five-year-olds,
0:19:58 > 0:20:03and in adults it's a more refined set of traits,
0:20:03 > 0:20:08but the core is reactivity and recovery irregulation.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Janet can even see these core responses,
0:20:11 > 0:20:16how extreme our reaction to a new situation is and how quickly we recover,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19in the heart rate and stress levels of six-month-olds.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27If they were already there at six months,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29could these core personality traits
0:20:29 > 0:20:32start even earlier, back in the womb?
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Janet's experiments allow her to see how babies react to
0:20:37 > 0:20:42a change in circumstances, even before they're born.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48First, she provokes strong emotions in the pregnant mother
0:20:48 > 0:20:51by showing her a video about childbirth.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53As the mother's heart rate and stress levels change,
0:20:53 > 0:20:58Janet watches to see how the baby responds.
0:21:00 > 0:21:06Or she can take a simpler approach, and surprise the babies directly.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10The mum is wearing the spa mask and the headphones.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13She's listening to music, so she can't hear the stimulus,
0:21:13 > 0:21:15but the foetus can.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17OK, are you ready?
0:21:17 > 0:21:18I'm ready.
0:21:18 > 0:21:19All right. Go.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26I could see her abdomen jump, in fact.
0:21:26 > 0:21:32You see a very quiet actograph and then just that discrete little jump.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35The foetus is startled at things, just like babies.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38Some babies, to that response,
0:21:38 > 0:21:43startle so much that they wake up and they continue to move.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Some babies don't really react at all.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51And then some babies, like this one, moved.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Looks like they gave a very specific response to it,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59and then they went back to their own business.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03Even one month before birth,
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Janet can begin to see distinctive responses from the babies.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13The core elements of our future personality.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26It feels great to me as a mom to sort of validate moms everywhere,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30that they didn't cause their child to behave this way,
0:22:30 > 0:22:34that their child was already that way at birth.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38But moms have to accept the good and the bad, right?
0:22:38 > 0:22:42So if your child turns out a pleasant, happy child,
0:22:42 > 0:22:47it's not... It's not your doing,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50in the same way that if your child turns out to be
0:22:50 > 0:22:53a very difficult, unhappy child, it's not your doing.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08From the moment you're born, parts of your future health,
0:23:08 > 0:23:12happiness and personality could already be determined.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21But there may be a very simple explanation for this.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28It could all be down to the genes we inherited from our parents.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35David Barker needed to show it was your nine months in the womb
0:23:35 > 0:23:40and not just your genes that made you...you.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Over ten years ago,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52he began a collaboration with Dutch scientists.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55It was already clear that in animals, manipulating
0:23:55 > 0:24:00the environment in the womb altered the health of future generations.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06It would be impossible to experiment on pregnant women in this way,
0:24:06 > 0:24:10but sometimes history creates an experiment for you.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Holland, 1944.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32The Nazis were retreating and leaving devastation in their wake.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37All possible food had been commandeered.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42The result, a country-wide famine which lasted five months.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Well, the Dutch famine occurred when the Germans
0:24:46 > 0:24:47banned all food transport,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and suddenly rations dropped dramatically.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56It was really an acute period of famine
0:24:56 > 0:24:58that struck an entire population.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Biologist Tessa Roseboom saw an opportunity
0:25:07 > 0:25:10to find out if our experience in the womb
0:25:10 > 0:25:13was every bit as important as our genes.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17There was hardly any food available
0:25:17 > 0:25:20and we know from the records in Amsterdam that people ate
0:25:20 > 0:25:22two slices of bread, two potatoes
0:25:22 > 0:25:25and half a sugarbeet for the entire day.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28So that's around 400 calories,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31and we need about 2,000 to 2,500 a day.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Tessa began with the birth records of one Amsterdam hospital.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42After two years of painstaking research,
0:25:42 > 0:25:46she tracked down the people who had been born in the famine.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51We have birth records of 2,414 babies,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55who were all born in this hospital in Amsterdam.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59We traced people and we interviewed lots of people in their homes
0:25:59 > 0:26:01and then invited them to come to the clinic
0:26:01 > 0:26:07for measurements, and then do obviously a lot of statistics behind the computer.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Tessa found that whatever genes they carried,
0:26:13 > 0:26:17those exposed to the famine in the womb had more heart disease,
0:26:17 > 0:26:22high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, diabetes and breast cancer.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26And those who were conceived after the famine...didn't.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30We did indeed find the brothers and sisters
0:26:30 > 0:26:34of the people who were exposed to famine.
0:26:34 > 0:26:35They had the same genes from the parents,
0:26:35 > 0:26:39they had the same post-natal environment, they grew up
0:26:39 > 0:26:43in the same family, but the ones who were exposed to the famine
0:26:43 > 0:26:46while in the womb were actually less healthy.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50The later ill-health was connected to the famine,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54to what happened to these people in the womb.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01And the famine even had an effect
0:27:01 > 0:27:05when it only lasted for the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Well, as a biologist, it seems quite logical
0:27:07 > 0:27:10that in the first 12 weeks in which you lay down your brain,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13your heart, your lungs, your kidneys, all the essential organs,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16if the quality of the building blocks is poor
0:27:16 > 0:27:19then the organs aren't as healthy,
0:27:19 > 0:27:24or aren't as good as one would have had with appropriate nutrition.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Because of the way our bodies grow,
0:27:33 > 0:27:38the nine months that made you will also have made your children.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45At the time of the Dutch famine, Tessa's grandmother was pregnant.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51The egg that Tessa grew from was already there,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54created inside Tessa's mother's body
0:27:54 > 0:27:57when she was an unborn baby inside Tessa's grandmother.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05So the egg that created Tessa
0:28:05 > 0:28:08was also permanently altered by the Dutch famine.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Well, genes can't be changed by the food we eat,
0:28:15 > 0:28:19but we know that food can actually change whether genes
0:28:19 > 0:28:20are switched on or off.
0:28:20 > 0:28:26So famine may have affected the switches on the genes in the egg
0:28:26 > 0:28:29and therefore they may have affected
0:28:29 > 0:28:33all the cells in the entire body of the next generation as well.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35So of the grandchildren
0:28:35 > 0:28:38of women who were pregnant at the time of the famine.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Tessa's work was powerful support for the argument
0:28:44 > 0:28:47that our life in the womb, and not just our genes,
0:28:47 > 0:28:52makes us more resilient to future disease.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54The picture that's emerging
0:28:54 > 0:28:59is that your early development sets up your constitution
0:28:59 > 0:29:03and therefore sets up how vulnerable you are
0:29:03 > 0:29:07to negative things that you may encounter through your life.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11We've hitherto tried to answer that question by assuming that
0:29:11 > 0:29:15there must be genes which explain it, but those genes have not come forward
0:29:15 > 0:29:18and there isn't any particular reason why they will.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20Why would such genes exist?
0:29:25 > 0:29:29The theory was that the quality of nutrition you received in the womb
0:29:29 > 0:29:33determined the quality of your growth before birth.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37This development shapes your birth weight,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41your life as a child and your health to the present day.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47But one question remained-
0:29:47 > 0:29:50what exactly was happening inside our bodies
0:29:50 > 0:29:54in those crucial nine months that could shape our destiny?
0:30:07 > 0:30:09Back in India,
0:30:09 > 0:30:13Professor Ranjan Yaznik was asking himself the same question.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17He had discovered low birth weight babies
0:30:17 > 0:30:20were more likely to end up as diabetes patients in his clinic.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26And the bad health went further.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30At 21, some of them were already showing signs of plaque
0:30:30 > 0:30:34forming in their arteries, an early indicator of heart disease.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39Although these patients looked thin,
0:30:39 > 0:30:44they were getting diseases normally seen in overweight and obese people.
0:30:53 > 0:30:54There was something strange going on.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Why were these apparently thin people's bodies
0:31:00 > 0:31:03behaving as if they were fat?
0:31:08 > 0:31:12To find out, Ranjan did another study to measure the amount of body fat
0:31:12 > 0:31:15these low birth weight babies were carrying.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25The babies here were born at 2.7 kilograms,
0:31:25 > 0:31:29but when we measured their body fat with special techniques,
0:31:29 > 0:31:32we realised that they have body fat
0:31:32 > 0:31:35which is as high as that of an English baby,
0:31:35 > 0:31:37a baby weighing 3.5 kg.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Almost 800 grams heavier.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43They appear very thin, but they are fat.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47We found the same thing at four years.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50They were thin and fat. At eight years again,
0:31:50 > 0:31:54they were thin and fat, and at 21 years they're again thin and fat.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02From birth,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05it was as if these people's bodies had the wrong settings.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11People with low birth weights looked thin, but they were actually
0:32:11 > 0:32:14carrying the same amount of fat as someone much heavier than them.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24Ranjan thought he, too, might have this unusual body composition
0:32:24 > 0:32:27as he was also a low birth weight baby.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33I was born less than five pounds and I thought we could investigate
0:32:33 > 0:32:36to find out whether I was at the higher risk of diabetes.
0:32:36 > 0:32:41So I did this by actually studying myself and my friend.
0:32:44 > 0:32:49We have both same body mass index, 22.3,
0:32:49 > 0:32:52but John has 9% body fat
0:32:52 > 0:32:54and I have 21% body fat.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56The same body mass index,
0:32:56 > 0:33:00an Indian has more than twice the amount of fat
0:33:00 > 0:33:01that an Englishman has.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05This is a perfect example of a thin/fat Indian.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Ranjan decided to see if the mother's diet in pregnancy
0:33:12 > 0:33:15could be causing these thin/fat bodies to develop.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19He looked at every aspect of the diet...
0:33:19 > 0:33:24and strangely he found it wasn't all about calories.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31To our great surprise, it was not the mother's calorie
0:33:31 > 0:33:36and the protein and the fat intake which predicted the foetal growth.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38It was the...
0:33:38 > 0:33:43eating of the micro-nutrient rich foods.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46It was how much green vegetables, the fruits and the milk
0:33:46 > 0:33:50which decided the size of the baby and how that baby was built.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56Ranjan's work showed that it wasn't the quantity of food we received in the womb,
0:33:56 > 0:34:00but getting the right vitamins and minerals which was crucial.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05Mothers who had low B-12 and high foliate
0:34:05 > 0:34:07gave birth to thin/fat babies
0:34:07 > 0:34:10which were insulin resistant as children
0:34:10 > 0:34:15and they seemed to be at higher risk of getting diabetes in future.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28These small variations in diet
0:34:28 > 0:34:32suggested that even quite ordinary changes in life before birth
0:34:32 > 0:34:36can have noticeable effects on our future health.
0:34:39 > 0:34:44The picture we now have is that normal human development is fragile.
0:34:44 > 0:34:49That very often there is insufficient resource available to the baby
0:34:49 > 0:34:52to perfect every bit of its body.
0:34:54 > 0:34:59The body has repair mechanisms for mending broken bits.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04The body has a store of stem cells of varying quality.
0:35:04 > 0:35:09The body has immune defences, it has defences against oxygen,
0:35:09 > 0:35:14and the quality of these systems
0:35:14 > 0:35:17determines the quality of health through life
0:35:17 > 0:35:20because health is essentially about the body's ability
0:35:20 > 0:35:25to maintain equilibrium in the face of challenges.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30If our future health was determined by the quality of our growth
0:35:30 > 0:35:35in the womb, David Barker saw an intriguing possibility -
0:35:35 > 0:35:39the chance to intervene and prevent all these diseases of later life.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46It was becoming clear to him that if you wanted a healthy happy old age,
0:35:46 > 0:35:52the nine months you spent in the womb could be the most important nine months of your life.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00Cheese!
0:36:01 > 0:36:07Scientists are discovering it's not just the food that reaches us in the womb,
0:36:07 > 0:36:12but also the hormones we're exposed to that could powerfully affect how our life unfolds.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22These monkeys could hold clues that our behaviour is not all down to the way we were brought up.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29According to Professor Melissa Hines of Cambridge University,
0:36:29 > 0:36:33testosterone levels in the womb could have changed the way we think.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38The reason people have gotten interested in testosterone levels
0:36:38 > 0:36:43in human beings is because there's thousands of studies in other species
0:36:43 > 0:36:47that show that if you manipulate testosterone experimentally
0:36:47 > 0:36:52during development, it influences the way the brain develops
0:36:52 > 0:36:55and as a consequence of that, the individual's behaviour
0:36:55 > 0:37:00across the lifespan in respect of behaviours that differ for males and females.
0:37:11 > 0:37:17Melissa has found the same effects of testosterone in the womb in both monkeys and children.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21Female humans, and other primates, tend to play with this sort of toy...
0:37:24 > 0:37:27Baby.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30..while the males, whether monkey or man, go for another kind.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34My favourite is the fire engine.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41But the female monkeys, and the girls, with higher testosterone levels in the womb
0:37:41 > 0:37:43end up acting more like the males
0:37:43 > 0:37:46and ditch the dolls for the trucks.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53More testosterone exposure makes your behaviour more male.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59So in two recent studies, we've looked at normal variability.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04In the first instance by measuring maternal testosterone during pregnancy
0:38:04 > 0:38:09and in the second instance by looking at testosterone and amniotic fluid.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13In both cases we find that the more testosterone the individual
0:38:13 > 0:38:19was exposed to pre-natally, the more male-typical their childhood behaviour is.
0:38:19 > 0:38:20So can you see this shape?
0:38:20 > 0:38:23I think...
0:38:23 > 0:38:26- it might be that one.- Yeah.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30Other skills could be linked to testosterone levels in the womb, from reading emotions
0:38:30 > 0:38:32to reading a map,
0:38:32 > 0:38:37- or spotting hidden triangles in complex shapes.- Well done!
0:38:37 > 0:38:43Could the level of testosterone in the womb be changing our brains, affecting our abilities?
0:38:44 > 0:38:47It's a question another group of Cambridge scientists are studying
0:38:47 > 0:38:52by looking at the brains of eight-year-olds in an MRI scanner.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54So this is the human brain
0:38:54 > 0:38:58and this white section that you see here is called the corpus closum.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02It's a fibrotract that connects the right hemisphere to the left hemisphere.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08One part of this region of the children's brains varied,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12depending on the levels of testosterone in the womb.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18So what we found is that low testosterone actually meant that
0:39:18 > 0:39:23this part of the closum was bigger on the left side than on the right side.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29This is one of the first times physical differences
0:39:29 > 0:39:33in our brain have been directly linked to testosterone levels in the womb.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39So we can really ask the question, is foetal testosterone a mechanism
0:39:39 > 0:39:44that sort of pushes brains to being more male or more female?
0:39:46 > 0:39:50This work with testosterone suggests hormones can have
0:39:50 > 0:39:53a crucial impact during the nine months that made you.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57And because they affect our brain,
0:39:57 > 0:40:01they may affect all aspects of our personality.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08CALL TO PRAYER
0:40:19 > 0:40:25By 2011, David Barker had been working on his theory for over two decades.
0:40:26 > 0:40:31He had evidence that the way we grew in the womb could have lasting effects on our health.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37But now, he wanted to not just understand our destiny,
0:40:37 > 0:40:39but potentially re-write it.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45I'm here because there are potentially important
0:40:45 > 0:40:49medical records here in the desert of Saudi Arabia.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08Records like these are the key to David's work.
0:41:10 > 0:41:16He's always looking for places where human experience creates a natural experiment.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25David is working with Saudi scientists
0:41:25 > 0:41:30to connect these records to real people living in the town of Unizah today.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35We have three different types of records
0:41:35 > 0:41:40that we can get a nice idea of the babies and how they grew up,
0:41:40 > 0:41:42what problems they faced,
0:41:42 > 0:41:47how this can be linked to the life in utero and so on.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52We have found records in China, we have found records in India.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56There are records in different European countries.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59Some records in America.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01Nothing like the records here,
0:42:01 > 0:42:03so this is very exciting.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10This latest set of records could reveal a crucial piece of the puzzle.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16They contain the details of an overlooked companion
0:42:16 > 0:42:21that shared our nine months in the mysterious world of the womb.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37We all began life in a world of water...
0:42:38 > 0:42:40..bathed in warm fluid,
0:42:40 > 0:42:44surrounded by the muted sounds of the outside world and our mother's heartbeat.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53Graham Burton of Cambridge University has been investigating
0:42:53 > 0:42:57life in this strange world his entire career.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03This is really where it all began.
0:43:05 > 0:43:10There's general agreement that when life evolved on the planet, it did so in the seas.
0:43:13 > 0:43:18And even today, we recreate this watery environment within the womb.
0:43:18 > 0:43:23The baby develops within a sac of salty fluid, very similar to the sea.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32It's not until the waters break at the time of delivery that we learn
0:43:32 > 0:43:33to take our first breath of air.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43Graham knew our mysterious companion in the womb
0:43:43 > 0:43:46would be crucial to David Barker's work.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50So when David first presented his theory,
0:43:50 > 0:43:54I thought this was extremely interesting, but my first reaction
0:43:54 > 0:43:57was of course, "Well, what about the placenta?"
0:43:57 > 0:44:00Because everything that goes between the mother and the baby
0:44:00 > 0:44:02must pass through the placenta.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09Your placenta was created during the same nine months that made you.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14It is the link between a baby, its mother
0:44:14 > 0:44:16and the outside world.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21Within the placenta there are these finger-like processes,
0:44:21 > 0:44:23rather like the fronds of the seaweed.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28Mother's blood comes in through the arteries
0:44:28 > 0:44:33into this space within the placenta
0:44:33 > 0:44:36and passes between these frond-like processes,
0:44:36 > 0:44:40bringing oxygen and nutrients to the placenta.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45Everything that reached us in the womb
0:44:45 > 0:44:47passed through this extraordinary organ.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51Of course, none of us would be here today without our placentas.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55It's really an extension of us. It shares the same DNA
0:44:55 > 0:44:59and in some cultures, it's almost considered a twin.
0:45:01 > 0:45:07To really understand how we developed in the womb, we need to unravel the role of our placenta.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12It acts as a selective barrier,
0:45:12 > 0:45:15designed to both feed and protect the baby.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21And Graham has discovered key evidence of exactly how this happens.
0:45:24 > 0:45:29So for example, in placentas where the mother has smoked during pregnancy,
0:45:29 > 0:45:34what we see is a reduction in the size of the blood vessels within the placenta
0:45:34 > 0:45:38and a thickening of the barrier separating the mother's and the baby's blood.
0:45:38 > 0:45:43So both of those effects will impair the transfer of nutrients
0:45:43 > 0:45:45from the mother to the baby
0:45:45 > 0:45:50and that may account for why the baby is smaller in women who smoke.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58This is just one example of the many things which can affect
0:45:58 > 0:46:00this delicate and responsive organ.
0:46:02 > 0:46:07Graham's work shows just how important the placenta is during the nine months that made you.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15Every placenta is different and in a way every placenta tells a story,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18and if we can read the clues within the placenta,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22then in a way we have a record of how the placenta and the baby develop
0:46:22 > 0:46:27and that may help us in predicting the future health of the baby.
0:46:36 > 0:46:41It's because our placenta has such a powerful influence on how our lives unfold
0:46:41 > 0:46:43that David Barker has come to Saudi Arabia.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48He has recently begun work with Dr Saleh Al-Wasel
0:46:48 > 0:46:51of King Saud University in Riyadh.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58They're in the early stages of an important new research project.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07Hidden in the records of the Saudi town of Unizah,
0:47:07 > 0:47:10Dr Al-Wasel has already found evidence of how the placenta
0:47:10 > 0:47:14may protect the baby from changes in our mother's diet.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20He's discovered the placenta seems to respond to Ramadan.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25Ramadan is a month that most people here in Saudi Arabia
0:47:25 > 0:47:27change their lifestyle.
0:47:31 > 0:47:36The frequency of food, the amount of food and also the quality of food.
0:47:38 > 0:47:44If Ramadan occurred during later pregnancy, Saleh found the placentas were smaller than usual.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49The placenta is not a solid organ.
0:47:49 > 0:47:50It's a very plastic organ.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54It's very sensitive to the environment
0:47:54 > 0:47:57and responds quickly to changes.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59I mean, in Ramadan,
0:47:59 > 0:48:03it's just only one month among nine months of the pregnancy
0:48:03 > 0:48:06and you can see changes in the placenta.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09Just for one month, changes in the size.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16You would think a smaller placenta would mean a smaller baby,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20but intriguingly the size of the babies didn't change.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25It seemed the smaller placenta was capable
0:48:25 > 0:48:29of transferring the same amount of nutrients as a larger one would,
0:48:29 > 0:48:33that it was protecting the baby from any effects of the dietary change.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40Here is the baby weight. 2.8, 3.4, 3.2,
0:48:40 > 0:48:433.3, 3.3, 3.4...
0:48:45 > 0:48:47These birth records suggest
0:48:47 > 0:48:51that even though the Saudi placenta is always smaller than a Western one,
0:48:51 > 0:48:54it's capable of producing as large a baby.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00Well, it's absolutely clear looking down this column,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03and I've looked at hundreds of such columns,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06that these babies are of Western size,
0:49:06 > 0:49:08but the placentas are much smaller.
0:49:12 > 0:49:17The Saudi babies are growing large and healthy from these smaller placentas.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19It's as if they're working more efficiently.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31To understand why, Saleh is now working with a hospital in Riyadh.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40They are measuring newborn babies and then analysing their placentas in the lab.
0:49:42 > 0:49:43It's 30 cms.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50They hope to discover why some placentas are better at transferring nutrients than others.
0:49:54 > 0:49:59The interesting thing about this is that the placenta does not transport
0:49:59 > 0:50:02nutrients in the same manner all day, all stages.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04It fluctuates.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12So by looking inside the placenta, we would hope to investigate
0:50:12 > 0:50:16how this placenta takes the nutrients from the mother's side
0:50:16 > 0:50:18and delivers it to the baby's side.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25Our companion in the womb is now being given as much respect
0:50:25 > 0:50:29by Western science as it has always had in Saudi culture.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32You cannot separate culture from science
0:50:32 > 0:50:35and here, for example, in Saudi Arabia,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38toward the end of the pregnancy,
0:50:38 > 0:50:44we look at the placenta as if it is going to die to bring a live baby
0:50:44 > 0:50:47and for this, we respect this unique organ
0:50:47 > 0:50:52and handle it carefully and bury it in the graveyard.
0:50:59 > 0:51:04So I'm very excited that the placenta is beginning to get the recognition that it deserves.
0:51:04 > 0:51:08David's work has really highlighted the importance of the intra-uterine
0:51:08 > 0:51:15period for adult health and, of course, the placenta is critical to that, and it's very rewarding to see
0:51:15 > 0:51:19that a number of young investigators are turning their attention to the placenta
0:51:19 > 0:51:22and I think in the next five, ten years
0:51:22 > 0:51:25we're really going to gain a much greater insight into its function.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33If we can understand why some placentas seem to work better than others,
0:51:33 > 0:51:38it might be possible to ensure every baby gets the best start in life,
0:51:38 > 0:51:40thanks to a really efficient placenta.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01In the tough environment of the slums of Mumbai,
0:52:01 > 0:52:04David Barker is hoping his ideas can change lives.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15The underlying mechanisms which affect the quality
0:52:15 > 0:52:19of our growth in the womb are still under investigation,
0:52:19 > 0:52:24but David believes we already know enough to alter the health destiny of future generations.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30It is a new way, it is a feasible way
0:52:30 > 0:52:33and it's not even a very expensive way,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36so it's time we got going.
0:52:37 > 0:52:42Inspired by David's ideas, his colleague, Professor Caroline Fall,
0:52:42 > 0:52:47is leading a study with the potential to fix the diabetes epidemic in India.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52At the moment, if you talk about preventing diabetes,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56people are talking about making middle-aged people lose weight,
0:52:56 > 0:52:58and A, that's impossible to do,
0:52:58 > 0:53:01and B, it doesn't seem to work very well anyway.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05The idea that you could build a human being that was
0:53:05 > 0:53:08more resistant to this disease was amazing to me.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Caroline's plan to halt the diabetes epidemic
0:53:16 > 0:53:19doesn't rely on high-tech labs or fancy science.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23It rests mainly on these women
0:53:23 > 0:53:24and one kitchen.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36These recipes contain all the crucial building blocks needed to build a body resistant to disease.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41'Folic acid, calcium, iron, vitamin A.'
0:53:41 > 0:53:45The calcium will be important for bone growth.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47The green leafy vegetables contain small quantities
0:53:47 > 0:53:51of essential fatty acids which are important for brain growth.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56All of those nutrients are important in different tissues of the body.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02The foetus, at a very, very early microscopic stage,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06is sensitive to the nutrients around it and if we miss that,
0:54:06 > 0:54:11we feel that we would be missing the most important stage of development.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29Every day, over 1,500 snacks are made in this kitchen.
0:54:29 > 0:54:34There are nutrient-rich recipes and others that are green vegetable-free
0:54:34 > 0:54:36to act as scientific controls.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44They are taken to about 50 clinics in the slums across the city.
0:54:49 > 0:54:54In total, over 6,700 women have participated
0:54:54 > 0:54:58and each must begin eating the supplements well before they fall pregnant.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03It's a logistical nightmare where the utmost care must be taken
0:55:03 > 0:55:04to be scientific.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11I'm very glad to have met Meera.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15It's been hard work, it's been hard work setting up a study like this.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18To carry it out on the ground
0:55:18 > 0:55:21in a population like this is very difficult.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25It's mandatory for a woman to come to the centre
0:55:25 > 0:55:28and have the supplement in front of the project clerk
0:55:28 > 0:55:31because it is very important, you know, because if they take it home,
0:55:31 > 0:55:34somebody else can eat it.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36They can throw it out or the child can eat it.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39We are not sure who the supplement has gone into,
0:55:39 > 0:55:42whose stomach, so it's very important to have women coming to the centre.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47The centre is full of women eating supplements
0:55:47 > 0:55:50from well before pregnancy until they give birth.
0:55:52 > 0:55:58And there are also babies who must be measured at one, three, six and 12 months.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03Their weight, length and body fat are recorded,
0:56:03 > 0:56:06and they are even testing their mental development.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14It is an ambitious long-term project.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17- For seven-and-a-half years. - How many more?
0:56:17 > 0:56:21- Forever, I think.- So nice!
0:56:21 > 0:56:27The results of this study will begin to come in next year.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31We're providing better nutrition into the mother,
0:56:31 > 0:56:35but the mother herself has had a poor early development,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39which may affect the quality of her eggs.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41It certainly affects the size of her uterus
0:56:41 > 0:56:44and the quality of the blood supply to the uterus.
0:56:44 > 0:56:49So she is still constraining the development and growth
0:56:49 > 0:56:53of that foetus, even if we are providing enough building blocks
0:56:53 > 0:56:55to develop a better foetus.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59We need to follow these children through and we need to follow
0:56:59 > 0:57:03into the next generation to see the full benefit.
0:57:16 > 0:57:21David Barker's ideas have transformed the way we think about our time in the womb.
0:57:22 > 0:57:27If the work in India is successful, the study of foetal origins
0:57:27 > 0:57:32that began in Hertfordshire could alter the health of future generations across the world.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39Many people have looked at genes, but it hasn't been as promising as we thought
0:57:39 > 0:57:42and it's been very difficult to change lifestyles,
0:57:42 > 0:57:46to prevent heart disease, for instance, but I think this field of research
0:57:46 > 0:57:51that focuses on development during pregnancy is really very promising.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00The benefits of improving the nutrition of the human embryo
0:58:00 > 0:58:06and foetus are not just reducing the burden of diabetes.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09It will reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease,
0:58:09 > 0:58:14osteoporosis, various brain disorders,
0:58:14 > 0:58:17and will prolong lifespan.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19Particularly it will prolong healthy lifespan.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23I would like to think that what we're seeing
0:58:23 > 0:58:28here in India is the beginning of a new dawn
0:58:28 > 0:58:30and a new understanding
0:58:30 > 0:58:34that will lead us to take command of our destinies
0:58:34 > 0:58:36in terms of our long-term health.
0:58:59 > 0:59:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:02 > 0:59:05E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk