Researchers have discovered that a father’s diet before conception significantly impacts the health of his children. The artwork features an allegorical representation of a fertilization event whereby a fat spermatozoon (in yellow – the fat-symbolizing color), conquers the oocyte (the moon in a sky full of stars) and lights it up by transferring diet-induced epigenetic information. Credit: Philipp Beck Dr.
Raffaele Teperino, who leads the “Environmental Epigenetics” research group at Helmholtz Munich, and his team have explored how a father’s diet prior to conception affects the health of their children. The study concentrated on specific small RNA molecules present in sperm, termed mitochondrial tRNA fragments (mt-tsRNAs). These RNAs are crucial in transmitting health traits across generations by controlling gene expression.
For their study, the researchers used data from the LIFE Child cohort, which includes information from over 3,000 families. The analyses showed that the father’s body weight influences the weight of the children and their susceptibility to metabolic diseases. This influence exists independently from other factors such as the mother’s weight, the parental genetics, or environmental conditions.
The Father’s Diet Influences the Children To verify the results of their analysis, the research team subsequently conducted experiments with mice. These mice were fed a high-fat diet, meaning food with a higher fat content than a normal diet. This ha.