SPERM pass on more than just their DNA. Chemical switches attached to the genomes of sperm – known as epigenetic tags – have been shown to alter the next generation for the first time.
The discovery could explain how a father’s experiences may later affect gene activity in their offspring, a vital step towards improving health and fertility.
Throughout life, our environment changes the activity of our genes, switching them on or off without altering DNA. It does this by epigenetics – adding or removing regulatory chemical tags. Both smoking and diet can alter which genes are tagged in this way, and epigenetic changes have also been linked to cancer.
Over the past decade, a handful of studies have suggested that environmental stressors experienced by parents can also affect the health of their children and even grandchildren[/a]. One controversial mouse study suggested that even the fear of a particular smell can be passed down epigenetically.
“The implication is that a father’s experiences might affect their offspring’s characteristics”
Sperm and egg genes can carry epigenetic tags, but it has been difficult to show that these affect offspring. Now Jerome Jullien at the Wellcome Trust CRUK Gurdon Institute in Cambridge and his colleagues have shown for the first time that sperm epigenetic tags do change gene expression in embryos – and that these tags are essential for healthy development.
They made their discovery by comparing frog embryos made from sperm with those made from spermatids, a type of sperm precursor cell. The embryos made from sperm ...
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