Smoking during pregnancy affects chromosomes

Smoking during pregnancy may lead to genetic damage in children. Maternal smoking may lead to a common type of chromosome damage, which is known to increase the risk of blood cancers.Smoking is known to have a number of adverse effects on pregnancy. But there has been limited information about possible genetic damages to the fetus.Researchers from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona analysed fetal cells obtained from 25 women who smoked and 25 controls during routine amniocentesis. The women in the smoking group smoked at least 10 cigarettes per day.The rate of structural chromosomal abnormalities in the smoking group was 12.1 per cent, which was much higher than 3.5 per cent, seen in controls. Analysis of the 689 breakpoints identified, revealed that one at a specific location of chromosome 11, which is often tied to blood cancers like leukemia, was most commonly affected by smoking.However, the study does have certain limitations, such as no direct or indirect measure of smoke exposure, and, therefore, the findings should be regarded as preliminary.