Fathers shape embryonic development through molecular ‘signatures’
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 26-Dec-2025 03:11 ET (26-Dec-2025 08:11 GMT/UTC)
A collaborative team led by Ana Boskovic and Jamie Hackett at EMBL Rome explored how different paternal preconception environments influence embryonic development. Their findings revealed that:
- An imbalanced paternal gut microbiome or altered diet disrupts the expression of key genes involved in extra-embryonic tissue development or growth.
- Genetic background modulates these effects, indicating that a complex interaction between genetics and environmental influences underlies inheritance.
- Paternal age impacts offspring development at the earliest stages of embryogenesis.
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