It seems like we are old before our time as a new study has suggested that process of ageing begins in the womb. In the University of Cambridge study using rats to model pregnancy and fetal development the researchers also found that providing mothers with antioxidants during pregnancy meant that their offspring aged more slowly in adulthood. However the offspring of mothers with lower levels of oxygen in the womb which in humans can be a consequence of smoking during pregnancy or of pregnancy at high altitude aged more quickly in adulthood. Our DNA is 'written' onto chromosomes of which