Teen Fathers May Pass Along More Genetic Mutations To Their Kids Than Teen Moms

The NBC News (2/19, Fox) website reports that a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B suggests that “teenage fathers pass along six times as many genetic mutations to their kids as do teenage mothers.” After examining “the DNA of more than 24,000 parents and their children,” investigators “found that when the father was 20 or younger, the children had many more mutations than did children of older dads, as well as many more mutations than the offspring of teen mothers and adult dads.”

The Telegraph (UK) (2/18, Donnelly) reported that the study authors “said the findings could explain why the children of younger fathers have been found to have a higher risk of disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and spina bifida, which have some genetic links.”

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— “Teen Dads Pass Mutations to Their Kids,” Maggie Fox, NBC News, February 17, 2015.

Posted in In The News.