Men inherit hidden cost of dad's vices

[Guest guest]

Men inherit hidden cost of dad's vices

* 06 January 2006

* Rowan Hooper

* Magazine issue 2533

* http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925334.000;jsessionid=HGOOAKOKHODG

Nutrition and smoking in early life may influence the health

of men's sons and grandsons, a new study reveals

THE sins of the fathers are, indeed, visited on subsequent generations.

Nutrition and smoking in early life may influence the health of men's

sons and grandsons, a new study has revealed.

These striking inherited effects are thought to be due to subtle

chemical changes to DNA known as " epigenetic " modifications (see

" Mapping the epigenome " ). And they could have big implications for

public health: the behaviour of today's children, for example, may be

stacking up problems for future generations.

Marcus Pembrey, a clinical geneticist at University College London, and

colleagues at Umeå University in Sweden, have two lines of evidence for

health effects being passed down the male line.

First, the researchers analysed the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents

and Children, a survey of British couples who had babies in the early

1990s. More than 5000 fathers in the survey were or had been smokers. Of

these men, 166 started ...