THE odour of disease makes pregnant mice boost their babies’ immunity. It is the first proof that social or environmental cues detected by a pregnant mother can alter traits in its babies.
Female mice are attuned to the odour of male mice as it helps them pick a mate. Olivia Curno of the University of Nottingham, UK, and her team housed pregnant mice next to male mice infected with a parasite. A partition meant the females could smell the males but not come into contact to catch the disease.
Offspring of these mice exposed to the parasite after birth…
