{"id":121002,"date":"2021-03-29T11:49:36","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T18:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/we-finally-know-how-sperm-remember-and-pass-on-non-dna-coded-traits-to-embryos"},"modified":"2021-03-29T11:49:36","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T18:49:36","slug":"we-finally-know-how-sperm-remember-and-pass-on-non-dna-coded-traits-to-embryos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/we-finally-know-how-sperm-remember-and-pass-on-non-dna-coded-traits-to-embryos","title":{"rendered":"We Finally Know How Sperm \u2018Remember\u2019 And Pass on Non-DNA-Coded Traits to Embryos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/we-finally-know-how-sperm-remember-and-pass-on-non-dna-coded-traits-to-embryos2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Studies in mammals have shown that the \u2018memories\u2019 of various environmental effects \u2013 such as <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1806333115\">diet<\/a>, weight, and <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.0914-13.2013\">stress<\/a> \u2013 are being passed on from dads to offspring, despite these states <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/what-your-father-did-before-you-were-born-could-influence-your-future\">not being coded for<\/a> in the DNA sequences carried by sperm. Now, we have a new explanation for how it\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n<p>The story has much to do with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/epigenetic-changes\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"epigenetics\">epigenetics<\/a>. Molecules that attach themselves to DNA can act like on-off switches that control which sections of DNA get used \u2013 but until now we haven\u2019t known which of these molecules can carry the settings marked by a father\u2019s life experiences, to be incorporated into an embryo via sperm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe big breakthrough with this study is that it has identified a non-DNA-based means by which sperm remember a father\u2019s environment (diet) and transmit that information to the embryo,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcgill.ca\/newsroom\/channels\/news\/how-sperm-remember-329649?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=mcgillu&utm_content=&utm_campaign=\">said<\/a> McGill University epigeneticist Sarah Kimmins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Studies in mammals have shown that the \u2018memories\u2019 of various environmental effects \u2013 such as diet, weight, and stress \u2013 are being passed on from dads to offspring, despite these states not being coded for in the DNA sequences carried by sperm. Now, we have a new explanation for how it\u2019s possible. The story has [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":621,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,412],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-genetics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/621"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121002\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}