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Oct 18, 2018
UPI
PRESS RELEASE
Researchers have figured out how a father's experiences can influence the health and development of his descendants from sperm: chemical modifications in the DNA. Through epigenetic changes, chemical modifications are made to DNA and genes are turned on or off in different cells and at different developmental states. College of Medicine researcher Pradeep Bhide and his team found that a father's exposure to nicotine may cause cognitive deficits in his children and grandchildren because of epigenetic changes in key genes in the father's sperm.