I’m always on the lookout for new concepts in research which have the potential to help patients live a healthier more Abundant Life. Researchers have been searching genetics, epigenetics and other reproductive factors to determine what impact both the father and mother have on the Next Generation.
We know that the mother and father each contribute half of a child’s genetics. We have known that the mother passes on mitochondrial genetics which the father does not contribute to. We are learning about epigenetic changes from the mother during pregnancy. A final frontier of mystery has been whether or not the father passes on more than just his genetics.
Researchers in this study, using mice subjects, have found a mechanism by which stress in daddy mice sends a chemical messenger in the form of micro RNA through the sperm into the next generation. Stress in the father Mouse results in a package of micro RNA being fused into the sperm cell.
The next steps will be to better understand how this micro RNA package later effects the developing baby mouse. Researchers have been uncovering how these short pieces of RNA, a specific type of genetic material that normally helps produce proteins, can influence what genes are transcribed in later cells.
Hopefully at some point we can use this deeper understanding to influence how the next generation develops. By addressing stress effects in the father and possibly intercepting those effects before they can cause harm in the next generation, we can help children live healthier more abundant lives.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180216110547.htm
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
