Molecular memory: How a mother's age echoes in her offspring's cells
In humans and many other animals, a mother's age can affect the physical and behavioral characteristics of the next generation. Scientists call these changes maternal age effects, and while they are widespread across the animal kingdom, researchers still don't fully understand how or why they occur.
The age of a mother can significantly influence her offspring's cells, according to a study published in The American Naturalist. Researchers led by Kristin Gribble, an associate scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory, have discovered that maternal age effects are likely driven by epigenetic mechanisms, rather than genetic mutations.
In rotifers, a type of aquatic animal, the study revealed that maternal age effects could be rapidly reversed in a single generation, suggesting they are not the result of cellular damage or DNA mutations associated with advanced age. Instead, histone modifications and possibly maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA may be responsible for transmitting this information from mothers to offspring.
The severity of these effects in offspring may also depend on genetic variation, with some genetic variants potentially protecting against negative impacts of advanced maternal age. Despite the generally negative effects of maternal age on offspring, such as shorter lifespans and reduced fertility, these effects persist across many species.
This persistence may be due to weakened natural selection pressures as individuals reach old age, when most of their offspring have already been produced. Understanding how maternal age effects are transmitted could improve our understanding of human health and inform precision medicine approaches.
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