Modulation of telomere length and subtelomeric DNA methylation in response to oxidative stress in the male germ line; implications for tumorigenesis in the offspring

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This research project is designed to elucidate how the quality of a father’s spermatozoa can impact upon the health and wellbeing of his children. We hypothesize that factors, such as infertility, heavy smoking or age create a state of oxidative stress in the testes and that this stress influences the genetic structure of spermatozoa in such a way that the incidence of spontaneous mutations and susceptibility-to-cancer are significantly elevated in the offspring.