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King's researchers(1) have discovered that breastfeeding(2) can increase the IQ(3) of children when combined with(4) the right genes(5). Based on two studies of 3,000 breastfed(6) babies in Britain and New Zealand, breastfeeding was found to raise intelligence(7) by an average(8) of nearly seven IQ points if the children had a particular version(9) of a gene called FADS2.

The known association(10) between breastfeeding and slightly(11) higher IQ in children is shown to relate to(12) this particular gene in the babies and the findings(13) are published on-line(14) today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(15) in the US.

Lead author(16) Avshalom Caspi and colleagues(17) Ben Williams, Ian Craig and Terrie Moffitt at the Institute(18) of Psychiatry(19) (IoP), King's College London, collaborated with(20) colleagues from the University of Otago, New Zealand, together with Duke University and Yale University in the US.

Terrie Moffitt, Professor of Social Behaviour(21) & Development(22), a co-author(23) on the paper at the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry(24) Centre at the IoP, says: ‘There has been some criticism(25) of earlier studies about breastfeeding and IQ saying that they didn't properly control for(26) socioeconomic status(27), or the mother's IQ or other factors(28), but our findings give a fresh perspective(29) different from those arguments(30) by showing a physiological mechanism(31) that could account for(32) the difference.'

‘Nature works via nurture(33)’

The researchers found that the baby's intellectual development(34) was influenced by(35) both genes and environment(36) or, more specifically(37), by the interaction(38) of its genes with its environment.