Fathering at 50? Your kids may be autists
September 2nd, 2011 - 4:49 pm ICT by IANSSydney, Sep 2 (IANS) Children fathered by men aged 50 years or above face a higher risk of autism or schizophrenia due to a repetition or deletion of their genes, says a research.
Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) researchers have pinpointed a genetic mechanism that may explain why such children are more likely to develop such neuro-degenerative diseases (loss of neurons).
Using advanced screening methods, they compared the offsprings of three-month-old male mice with those fathered by less sprightly 14-16 month old fathers, the journal Translational Psychiatry reports.
“This study provides the first evidence of the biological mechanism that may be responsible,” he explains.
They found that mice fathered by older dads had an increased number of new copy number variants (CNVs) in their DNA, according to Queensland Institute statement.
CNVs can either result in the missing of genes or can make more copies of them. So CNVs can delete or repeat whole ‘paragraphs’ of genetic code.
These results offered the first experimental demonstration that the offspring of older males have an increased risk of new CNVs, according to QBI professor John McGrath.
He conducted the research with Emma Whitelaw (Queensland Institute), and QBI’s Claire Foldi and Traute Flatscher-Bader.
- Why boozers enjoy a drag with their drinks - Jun 06, 2010
- Gene variants 'raise risk of childhood obesity' - Oct 17, 2010
- Genes drive gender specific behaviours in parenting, sex - Feb 03, 2012
- An insight into regenerating damaged brain cells - Mar 31, 2011
- Genetic variant that substantially increases schizophrenia risk identified - Aug 06, 2010
- Why women live longer than men - Dec 02, 2009
- Largest genetic study of anorexia nervosa detects common, rare variants - Nov 20, 2010
- Does dad's stress affect his kids? - Sep 01, 2011
- Drinking too much during pregnancy can harm offspring permanently - Jan 15, 2010
- Genetic makeup identified as key factor that leads to severe sepsis - Jun 12, 2010
- Scientists unravel how alcohol harms developing foetus - Jan 20, 2010
- How a gene mutation leads to autism - Dec 17, 2010
- Delating a gene works up smarter brain - Mar 11, 2012
- Tweaking gene turns tissues into super muscles - Nov 22, 2011
- Potential therapeutic target for schizophrenia identified - Feb 24, 2011
Tags: bader, biological mechanism, brain institute, cnvs, copy number variants, degenerative diseases, emma whitelaw, experimental demonstration, first evidence, genetic code, genetic mechanism, john mcgrath, male mice, offsprings, professor john, qbi, queensland institute, schizophrenia, screening methods, translational