Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), which results in a baby having a low weight at birth, has been associated with the development of type 2 diabetes in adulthood. It has been suggested that this is because the expression of key genes is altered during fetal development and that this affects disease susceptibility during the later part of life. Evidence to support this hypothesis and indicating that the changes in gene expression might be permanent has now been provided by Rebecca Simmons and his colleagues, at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, using a rat model of IUGR........