Defying birth defects through diet?

The risk of certain birth defects can be modified by maternal diet. A high-fat maternal mouse diet has recently been reported to substantially increase the penetrance of birth defects known to be associated with a deficiency of transcription factor Cited2 as well as induce cleft palate. These effects were associated with a more than twofold reduction in embryonic expression of Pitx2c. This investigation suggests the need to further explore this provocative gene-diet interaction in human studies.