Family living conditions in childhood are associated with significant effects in DNA that persist well into middle age, new research shows. Scientists looked for gene methylation associated with social and economic factors in early life and found clear differences between people brought up in families with very high and very low standards of living.More than twice as many methylation differences—1,252 as opposed to 545—were associated with the combined effect of the wealth, housing conditions, and occupation of parents (that is, early upbringing) than were associated with the current socioeconomic circumstances in adulthood.