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The Discovery FilesLighting Effects
Animals can pass the damaging effects of nighttime light exposure to their offspring, a new study has found, adding to a growing body of evidence that there's a health cost to our increasingly illuminated nights. Hamster pups are born with weakened immune systems and impaired endocrine activity when their parents don't receive a natural mix of daylight and darkness prior to mating, found researchers. This research aimed to determine whether parents were passing along possible modifications in genetic messaging, known as epigenetic changes.
Credit: National Science Foundation/Karson Productions
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