A recent research on mice gives a clue that cigarette smoking can cause destruction in the sperm of a smoker, and thus transmitting the genetic defects to their kids.
The study suggests that cigarette smoking may harm a person’s sperm.
The research conducted by Canadian scientists discover that people who smoke are at greater risk of causing destruction to their sperm, ultimately transmitting the genetic defects to their kids.
The study was done on mice, and it was discovered that the DNA of sperm cells got modified when exposed to smoke.
Carole Yauk of Health Canada’s Environmental and Occupational Toxicology Division, who led the research, mentioned that,
If inherited, these mutations persist as irreversible changes in the genetic composition of children.
It is very well known that mothers who smoke can cause harm to their fetuses, and this study show the evidence that fathers can potentially destroy/destruct offspring’s before they actually arrive in this world.
The researchers studied the stem cells that form sperm in mice exposed to smoke of cigarette. The findings show that the rate of DNA mutations in the mice who were exposed to smoke were 1.4 times higher than that of non-smoking mice at 6 weeks, and 1.7 times that of non-smoking mice at 12 weeks.
This provides a clue, that destruction is related to the time period of exposure, so as long as you smoke the more mutations get stored and thus a potential effect likely to appear in the offspring.
These mutationsare called as germline mutations, and these mutations said to be permanent.
The study published in the journal Cancer Research.
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