Why is the old father?

Children of older fathers are just like the saying in the folk 'old father'. According to the study, when the father increased by one year, two new mutations appeared in his genome.

These mutations are beneficial or harmful, the opinions are not consistent. But most biologists think that mutations caused by age rarely benefit. The quality of ' building materials' so the future child - ie eggs and sperm - continuously decreases with age.

The group of scientists led by Augustin Kong, the deCODE Genetics Institute, investigates the birth of children when their age is harmful to their children by comparing the number of mutations in the mother, father and child's genome. New born child in 78 families in Ireland.

They sampled DNA from both parents and children, identified the word arrangement and compared them, separating the mutations in the child's genome, not in the parent gene.

Older men often pass on
more genes mutate than young people.

The results showed that there were 60 mutations in each of the children 's average genome in parents. So on the one hand they have confirmed the data that other studies have obtained, on the other hand they have discovered completely new data. They found that mutations were not random but entirely dependent on the father's age.

Young fathers in their 20s passed on to their children only 25 new mutations, while the children of fathers in their 40s must receive 65 unusual things in their genome. On the mother's side, they do not really affect their 'genetic health' because they only give them 15 mutations, which are not dependent on age.

Therefore, every time the father keeps increasing by one year, the children are forced to receive two new mutations (often not beneficial) in their genome. If you think that the number of mutations increases by 10%, it will have a negative effect on your children's health. The irregularities accumulated continuously after several generations will lead to serious consequences.

According to scientists, the father plays a particularly important role for her genetic health because of the difference between sperm and eggs. Women 's sexual cells (eggs) formed before they were born, so from childhood to the end (menopause) they did not change.

Meanwhile, sperm is born and dies continuously during sperm cycles, lasting only 2 months. Depending on the degree of aging, the quality of sperm deteriorates continuously. This explains why only fathers cause mutations, more in children when their age is higher.

To have healthy future generations men should not give birth when their age is high.