"Topic"-Parental Age Effect

For October 1st-

Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternal_age_effect

Suggestions- 1- In the History section of the article, a more developed history of how the Paternal Age Effect was discovered, came about could be included. 2- In the Notable Conditions and Diseases section, many diseases are listed at the bottom without explanation. If enough information is available, more common conditions and diseases should be elaborated on, namely cataracts, heart defects, hemophilia, Klinefelter's Syndrome. 3- Go more in-depth in the Semen & Sperm Abnormalities section, taking more about the actual studies that were preformed and the results they had. Also include aneuploidy as potential abnormality.


Edit- In addition, a study preformed in 1995 found a positive correlation between increasing male age and sperm aneuploidy, leading to a higher potential for genetic disorders.[1]



Annotated Bibliography

Arslan, Ruben C., Lars Penke, and Wendy Johnson. "He Effect of Paternal Age on Offspring Intelligence and Personality When Controlling for Parental Trait Levels." PLOS ONE 9.2 (2014): n. pag. Open Access. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.

The article discusses a study in which paternal age at conception was measured against other factors such as intelligence and personality traits. The results found paternal age effects on areas such as IQ and personality and went on to discuss plans for future studies.


Crean, Angela, and Russell Bonduriansky. "What Is a Paternal Effect?" Science Direct. N.p., 14 Aug. 2014. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.

The article discusses the mutation rates of humans and why this rate is higher in males than females. Also, the article discusses the same issue in Drosophila and draws conclusions between the two.


Crow, J. F. "The High Spontaneous Mutation Rate: Is It a Health Risk?" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 94.16 (1997): 8380-386. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.

The article discuses what the paternal effect is, as well as its relationship to maternal effect and how the two can influence each other. The article then goes on to discuss the evolutionary responses of the paternal age effect.


Eisenberg, D. T., and C. W. Kuzawa. "Commentary: The Evolutionary Biology of the Paternal Age Effect on Telomere Length." International Journal of Epidemiology 42.2 (2013): 462-65. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.

The artictle discusses telomeres and their effect on the paternal age effect. In all cells but sperm cells, telomere length decreases with age. The article linked increases telomere length and paternal age plays an important role on the child’s health and longevity


Goriely, Anne, and Andrew O.m. Wilkie. "Paternal Age Effect Mutations and Selfish Spermatogonial Selection: Causes and Consequences for Human Disease." The American Journal of Human Genetics 90.2 (2012): 175-200. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.

The article discusses the paternal age effect and its link to certain congenital disorders as well as other diseases. What it found was that a common factor was the dysregulation of spermatogonial cell behavior, meaning that when mutations do occur they are selected for. This mutation is spread through the rest of the sperm over time and explains why the paternal effect can be associated with theses disorders.

  1. ^ Robbins, WE; Baulch, JE; Moore, D. "Three-probe fluorescence in situ hybridization to assess chromosome X, Y, and 8 aneuploidy in sperm of 14 men from two healthy groups: evidence for a paternal age effect on sperm aneuploidy". Pub Med. MEDLINE. Retrieved 28 September 2014.