Researchers at Yale School of Medicine found differences in DNA methylation (one of the major regulatory mechanisms of gene expression or function of the genome) on orphan who grew up in an orphanage.
"Our study suggests that stress early separation from birth parents can cause long-term impact on the programming function of the genome. This may explain why adopted children are very vulnerable and sensitive to harsh adoptive parent in terms of physical and mental health," explains Elena Grigorenko, a senior researcher at the Yale Child Study Center, as reported by Health24, Thursday (12/08/2011).
In a study published in Development and psychopathology, researchers compared two groups of children who are raised from birth in institutional care or orphanages and children raised by biological parents.
Grigorenko and her colleagues took blood samples from children aged between 7 to 10 years who lived in orphanages and children who grow up in families in the northwest region of the Russian Federation.
Researchers then memprofilkan genomes of all children to identify biological processes and pathways that may be affected by the lack of parental attention and care.
The result, researchers found that in a large group of orphans at the orphanage, there are a large number of changes in the genetic regulation of immune response control system and the interaction between cells, including a number of important mechanisms in the development and brain function.
"Parents who adopt orphans may need to perform maintenance and give more attention to be able to revert the changes in the regulation of the genome in these children's bodies," lid Grigorenko.
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