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Fathers’ choices may be packaged and passed down in sperm RNA

quantamagazine.org

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Re: Fathers’ choices may be packaged and passed down in sperm RNA

#141

Post by amitav1 »

tstrimple wrote: post #72
jjmarr wrote: post #24

> For instance, mouse fathers exposed to nicotine(opens a new tab) sire male pups with livers that are good at disarming not just nicotine but cocaine and other toxins as well. queue rationalist fathers microdosing nicotine patches before conception to give their kids the best chance at abusing drugs.

Damn. I didn't start substance abuse until after all my children were sired. Apparently I have done them an injustice by compromising their resistance to cocaine and other toxins. I have failed as a father!

Well, there's always next time.

Re: Fathers’ choices may be packaged and passed down in sperm RNA

#143

Post by cwmoore »

jibal wrote: post #136
pcl wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ”They will not persist across many generations though” Why not? Is there some tempering mechanism on epigenetic transfer? I could imagine that some sperm-conferred epigenetic markers could continue down the male descendants unbroken.

Because chromosomes in nuclei reproduce via very sophisticated and highly regulated processes; random epigenetic molecules do not.

Makes me wonder about how the two interact in the human phenomenon of generational oscillations

Re: Fathers’ choices may be packaged and passed down in sperm RNA

#144

Post by amitav1 »

KellyCriterion wrote: post #109
spiderfarmer wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nurture.

Note sure if I understand what you mean? You mean that we showed them already by that age to not mix fries & ketchup? :-D If children are that small and you are sitting with two of them at the table, handing over those ideas to them in a "nurturing way" is the last thing on what you can focus on with two small kids at the table :-)) And its always great if someone gives a downvote here if you share some personal life…

I believe that GP is trying to say that your child picked up that behaviour by watching you.

Monkey see, monkey do. (No offence intended towards your child.)

Re: Fathers’ choices may be packaged and passed down in sperm RNA

#145

Post by rkomorn »

amitav1 wrote: post #144
KellyCriterion wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note sure if I understand what you mean? You mean that we showed them already by that age to not mix fries & ketchup? :-D If children are that small and you are sitting with two of them at the table, handing over those ideas to them in a "nurturing way" is the last thing on what you can focus on with two small kids at the table :-)) And its always great if someone gives a downvote here if you share some personal life…

I believe that GP is trying to say that your child picked up that behaviour by watching you. Monkey see, monkey do. (No offence intended towards your child.)

For some reason this just made me think of the "I learned it from you, dad!" PSAs of my childhood.

Edit: apparently it was "I learned it by watching you!"

Re: Fathers’ choices may be packaged and passed down in sperm RNA

#146

Post by blitz_skull »

I always find it fascinating when science catches up to the Bible.

The Bible clearly articulates some form of generational “pass-through” for the sins of the father passing to the children.

While I do think it largely refers to a spiritual judgement, it’s hard to ignore the real-world examples of abuse that always seem to repeat themselves without a huge effort on the part of, someone, usually the child after they’ve grown up, to break the cycle.

Source: I’ve seen a lot of brokenness in our country’s foster system.

Re: Fathers’ choices may be packaged and passed down in sperm RNA

#147

Post by DANmode »

whimsicalism wrote: post #134
DANmode wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You took a left-turn: Nicotine is on-par with caffeine in isolation. It’s the rest of the crap in smokes and vapes to be concerned with. I was surprised to learn nicotine is used by functional doctors to treat CFS-adjacent conditions, and the mechanisms therein.

nicotine is significantly more harmful than caffeine, although it is definitely way better than the other stuff in tobacco and not a carcinogen. let’s not get started on the CFS stuff, treatments for functional disorders are often placebo-resembling.

> nicotine is significantly more harmful than caffeine

“Significantly” is an opinion.

It’s more toxic by weight, yes.

Messes with vascular more than caffeine.

Both are an excellent way to screw up heart health.

> let’s not get started on the CFS stuff, treatments for functional disorders are often placebo-resembling.

Personally haven’t needed or wanted to use nicotine, but I have recovered from an array of chronic illnesses; I’ll get started on anything I please, thanks,

especially seeing how many of my peers are hopelessly exhausted and existing on abusive amounts of caffeine/prescription stimulants to get by.

Re: Fathers’ choices may be packaged and passed down in sperm RNA

#148

Post by whimsicalism »

DANmode wrote: post #147
whimsicalism wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

nicotine is significantly more harmful than caffeine, although it is definitely way better than the other stuff in tobacco and not a carcinogen. let’s not get started on the CFS stuff, treatments for functional disorders are often placebo-resembling.

> nicotine is significantly more harmful than caffeine “ Significantly ” is an opinion. It’s more toxic by weight, yes. Messes with vascular more than caffeine. Both are an excellent way to screw up heart health. > let’s not get started on the CFS stuff, treatments for functional disorders are often placebo-resembling. Personally haven’t needed or wanted to use nicotine, but I have recovered from an array of chronic…

[flagged]

Re: Fathers’ choices may be packaged and passed down in sperm RNA

#149

Post by shwaj »

jibal wrote: post #138
whimsicalism wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the section immediately after that you didn’t quote: > evidence keeps piling up. Most recently, in November 2025, a comprehensive paper (opens a new tab) published in Cell Metabolism traced the downstream molecular effects of a father mouse’s exercise regimen on sperm microRNAs that target genes “critical for mitochondrial function and metabolic control” in a developing embryo. The researchers found many of those sam…

I and others generally don't quote things that aren't relevant to the point we're making and I'm not keen on the crypt-accusation. I didn't say that there aren't downstream molecular effects--clearly there are. Rather, the article is very unclear about the nature of epigenetics, and the wording about "transmitting traits" is misleading at best and leads to many unwarranted conclusions, as evidenced in the comments he…

In the “paternal exercise” case the trait isn’t the habit of exercising, it’s the metabolic changes of exercise that are (apparently) conferred to both father and offspring.

Re: Fathers’ choices may be packaged and passed down in sperm RNA

#150

Post by fb03 »

there_is_try wrote: post #57
lachlan_gray wrote: post #40

Earlier this year moving home to Canada, instead of flying I bought a van in California and drove it back with all my stuff. I was taken aback to learn my dad did the exact same thing at my age!

Any particular reason for moving back to Canada ?

Yes, it was configured in his mRNA
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