WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Many mouse studies have shown that radiation treatment can cause germline mutations, which can then be passed onto subsequent generations. Now, new research in mice takes this idea one step further: this mutagenic environment can be transferred from sperm to eggs upon fertilization, doubling the mutations in the resulting embryos.
The study, published today (January 30) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, raises health concerns for children of young cancer survivors, most of whom have been through multiple rounds of radiation treatment. “This result is now so solid that I think we can’t ignore it,” said radiologist Keith Baverstock from the University of Eastern Finland, who was not involved in the research. “It is an important result because these drugs and radiation ...
