Reaction: new evidence on the link between father's age and genetic disorders in offspring
Sperm from older fathers are more likely to pass on new mutations that would cause congenital disorders to their babies, while other mutations are independent of paternal age, says a study published in Genome Biology and Evolution. The team analysed the frequency of ten FGFR3 gene variants in semen samples from anonymous donors aged 23-59 years in Austria. Two pathogenic mutations of this gene do occur more frequently in older fathers: those associated with achondroplasia and with thanatophoric dysplasia, a rare and very fatal disease. Other mutations have no correlation with paternal age and may occur in the testes before sexual maturation, according to the study.
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