Mums are used to sacrificing for their children - whether it’s their own dinner to ensure their kids are well fed or a new dress so their little ones can have shoes - but scientists has proven that we make the ULTIMATE sacrifice before they're even born.
According to new research, mums are programmed to channel energy in the form of fat to their kids at the expense of their own life span.
While the discovering was found in a study on roundworm C. elegans, it is believed that humans have the same biological mechanism.
When an organism is exposed to external stresses such as famine a protein called SKN-1 - which protects cells - is activated and moves the mother’s lipids to the reproductive system, from her own cells.
Once there is helps make reproduction easier but means the mother faces a shortened life span.
Talking about the findings, Professor Sean Curran, Southern California University, explained: "SKN-1 plays essential roles in survival to stress at all stages in life; however, SKN-1 activation mutants are not long-lived. This is incredibly surprising and confusing at the same time since these animals should be stress resistant.”
"Our study shows the reason constitutively active SKN-1 doesn't confer longevity because of the movement of lipids from the soma to the germline to promote the necessity of reproduction."
