Sperm of smoking dads can hurt child DNA

Men who smoke before conception can damage the DNA of their offspring in the womb that may give him or her a higher risk of disease, British researchers say.

Diana Anderson of the School of Life Sciences at the University of Bradford in England, and colleagues found evidence showing why men should be urged to stop smoking before trying to conceive in the same way women have been urged to quit tobacco.

A fertile sperm cell takes about three months to fully develop; therefore men would ultimately need to quit smoking long before conception to avoid causing genetic problems, Anderson said.

Anderson and colleagues used DNA biomarkers to measure genetic changes in the paternal blood and semen around conception, as well as maternal and umbilical cord blood at delivery in families from two different European regions in central England and a Greek island.

Information regarding the lifestyle, environmental and occupational exposures of these families was taken from validated questionnaires. The combined analysis of exposures and DNA biomarkers was used to evaluate the role of exposures before conception and during pregnancy in the causation of genetic changes in the offspring.

“These transmitted genetic changes may raise the risk of developing cancer in childhood, particularly leukemia and other genetic diseases,” Anderson said in a statement. “We hope that this knowledge will urge men to cease smoking before trying to conceive.”

The findings were published in the FASEB Journal.

(UPI)



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'예비아빠’ 태아수정 3개월전 담배 끊어야

태아가 수정이 되기 전이라도 예비 아빠가 담배를 피웠다면 엄마의 자궁속에서 태아의 DNA를 손상시켜 아이가 나중에 백혈병이나 다른 유전자 질환을 앓을 확률이 커진다는 연구 결과가 나왔다.

영국의 한 생명과학대학의 다이아나 앤더슨 박사와 그의 연구팀에 따르면 아이를 계획하는 남성은 여성과 마찬가지로 임신을 계획하기 전에 담배를 끊어야 한다.

정자는 완전히 수정히 가능한 상태로 발달하려면 적어도 3개월이 걸리므로 태아가 수정되기 적어도 담배를 끊어야 유전적인 문제 발생을 피할 수 있다고 연구팀은 밝혔다.

앤더슨 박사는 담배에 노출된 정자는 나중에 아이가 태어나 자란 후 아동기에 암을 발생시키거나 백혈병 또는 다른 유전 질환을 일으킬 위험이 커진다고 말했다.

(코리아헤럴드)