婴儿期的亲密接触，会在数年后改变他们的基因

The amount of close and comforting contact that young infants get doesn't just keep them warm, snug, and loved.

幼儿获得的亲密和舒适的接触,不仅能让他们保持温暖、舒适和被爱。

A 2017 study says it can actually affect babies at the molecular level, and the effects can last for years.

2017年的一项研究表明，它实际上会在分子水平上影响婴儿，这种影响可能持续数年。

Based on the study, babies who get less physical contact and are more distressed at a young age, end up with changes in molecular processes that affect gene expression.

根据这项研究，那些身体接触较少、在幼年时更痛苦的婴儿，最终会改变影响基因表达的分子过程。

The team from the University of British Columbia in Canada emphasises that it's still very early days for this research, and it's not clear exactly what's causing the change.

加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚大学(university of british columbia)的研究小组强调，这项研究还处于起步阶段，目前还不清楚究竟是什么导致了这种变化。

But it could give scientists some useful insights into how touching affects the epigenome - the biochemical changes that influence gene expression in the body.

但这可能会让科学家们对触摸如何影响表观基因组——影响体内基因表达的生化变化——有一些有用的了解。

During the study, parents of 94 babies were asked to keep diaries of their touching and cuddling habits from five weeks after birth, as well as logging the behaviour of the infants – sleeping, crying, and so on.

在这项研究中，94名婴儿的父母被要求从出生后5周开始记录他们的抚摸和拥抱习惯，并记录婴儿的行为——睡觉、哭泣等等。

Four-and-a-half years later, DNA swabs were taken of the kids to analyse a biochemical modification called DNA methylation.

四年半后，研究人员提取了这些孩子的DNA样本，分析了一种名为DNA甲基化的生化修饰。

It's an epigenetic mechanism in which some parts of the chromosome are tagged with small carbon and hydrogen molecules, often changing how genes function and affecting their expression.

这是一种表观遗传机制，染色体的某些部分被小碳和氢分子标记，经常改变基因的功能并影响它们的表达。

The researchers found DNA methylation differences between "high-contact" children and "low-contact" children at five specific DNA sites, two of which were within genes: one related to the immune system, and one to the metabolic system.

研究人员在5个特定的DNA位点发现了“高接触”儿童和“低接触”儿童之间的DNA甲基化差异，其中两个位于基因内：一个与免疫系统有关，另一个与代谢系统有关。

DNA methylation also acts as a marker for normal biological development and the processes that go along with it, and it can be influenced by external, environmental factors as well.

DNA甲基化也是正常生物发育及其相关过程的一个标志，它也会受到外部环境因素的影响。

Then there was the epigenetic age, the biological ageing of blood and tissue. This marker was lower than expected in the kids who hadn't had much contact as babies, and had experienced more distress in their early years, compared with their actual age.

然后是表观遗传年龄，血液和组织的生物老化。与他们的实际年龄相比，那些在婴儿时期没有太多接触，并且在早年经历过更多痛苦的孩子，这一指标低于预期。

"In children, we think slower epigenetic ageing could reflect less favourable developmental progress," said one of the team, Michael Kobor.

“在儿童中，我们认为表观遗传老化的减缓可能反映出发育进程的不利影响。”研究小组的一位成员迈克尔·科博尔说。

Gaps between epigenetic age and chronological age have been linked to health problems in the past, but again it's too soon to draw those kind of conclusions: the scientists readily admit they don't yet know how this will affect the kids later in life.

在过去，表观遗传年龄和实际年龄之间的差距与健康问题有关，但现在得出这样的结论还为时过早:科学家们欣然承认，他们还不知道这将如何影响孩子以后的生活。

"We plan to follow up on whether the 'biological immaturity' we saw in these children carries broad implications for their health, especially their psychological development," said one of the researchers, Sarah Moore.

研究人员之一莎拉·摩尔(Sarah Moore)说:“我们计划对这些孩子的‘生理不成熟’是否会对他们的健康产生广泛影响，尤其是对他们的心理发展。”

"If further research confirms this initial finding, it will underscore the importance of providing physical contact, especially for distressed infants."

“如果进一步的研究证实了这一最初的发现，它将强调身体接触的重要性，尤其是对痛苦的婴儿。”