How a Genetic Disease Makes Itself More Likely to Pass from Father to Child

About 1 in 2,000 children are born with Noonan syndrome, a genetic disease associated with short stature, congenital heart defects and a unique craniofacial structure. Scientists have found why the disorder is more common than expected in children of older dads. Changes in one of the genes for Noonan syndrome give affected stem cells in the fathers’ testes an advantage over other stem cells. As a result, the stem cells and sperm carrying these mutations are found in higher numbers than usual in the testes of older men, increasing the likelihood that they will produce children with Noonan syndrome. This finding may lead to a better understanding of this disorder and others that occur more often in the children of older fathers.
Source: NIGMS Biomedical Beat - Category: Research Source Type: news