Smoking damages DNA of hopeful dads

Cigarette smoke damages DNA in the reproductive cells of fathers and these changes are inherited by the offspring, a new study has found. In the new study, scientists have shown for the first time that that men who smoke before conception can damage the genetic information of their offspring. These inherited changes in DNA could possibly render an offspring in the womb susceptible to later disease such as cancer. This provides evidence showing why men should be urged to stop smoking before trying to conceive in the same way women have been urged to quit. Interestingly, a fertile sperm cell takes about three months to fully develop, therefore men would ultimately need to quit smoking long before conception to avoid causing genetic problems. “That smoking of fathers at the time around conception can lead to genetic changes in their children indicates that the deleterious effects of smoking can be transmitted through the father to the offspring,” Diana Anderson, a researcher involved in the work from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Bradford, UK, said. “These transmitted genetic changes may raise the risk of developing cancer in childhood, particularly leukaemia and other genetic diseases. We hope that this knowledge will urge men to cease smoking before trying to conceive,” she said. To make this discovery, Anderson and colleagues used DNA biomarkers to measure genetic changes in the paternal blood and semen around conception, as well as maternal and umbilical cord blood at delivery in families from two different European regions in central England and a Greek island. Information regarding the lifestyle, environmental and occupational exposures of these families was taken from validated questionnaires. The combined analysis of exposures and DNA biomarkers was used to evaluate the role of exposures before conception and during pregnancy in the causation of genetic changes in the offspring. These results have strong implications for the prevention of disease. “This report shows that smoking is a germ cell mutagen. If dad uses cigarettes, his kids will be affected even before they are born,” Gerald Weissmann, Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal, said. “As Father’s Day approaches, family members may want to give dads and prospective dads the help they need to quit smoking for good,” he added. The study has been published online in the FASEB Journal.