“A Duke University study of the tiny nematode worm C. elegans finds that young worms that don’t get anything to eat in the first few days of life are buffered from early starvation’s worst effects if their mothers had also been underfed.”
Maternal Diet and Insulin-like Signaling Control Intergenerational Plasticity of Progeny Size and Starvation Resistance,” Jonathan Hibshman, Anthony Hung and L. Ryan Baugh. PLOS Genetics, October 26, 2016. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006396