The Role of Advanced Parental Age in Reproductive Genetics

Abstract

The increase of parental reproductive age is a worldwide trend in modern society in recent decades. In general, older parents have a significant impact on reproductive genetics and the health of offspring. In particular, advanced parental age contributes to the increase in the risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring. However, it is currently under debate how and to what extent the health of future generations was affected by the parental age. In this review, we aimed to (i) provide an overview of the effects of age on the fertility and biology of the reproductive organs of the parents, (ii) highlight the candidate biological mechanisms underlying reproductive genetic alterations, and (iii) discuss the relevance of the effect of parental age on offspring between animal experiment and clinical observation. In addition, we think that the impact of environmental factors on cognitive and emotional development of older offspring will be an interesting direction.

Genome-wide temporal gene expression reveals a post-reproductive shift in the nematodeC. briggsae

“…As the soma deteriorates over time, few processes can be said not to be affected by aging. The process of reproduction is intimately involved with and affected by aging: germ cell quality reduces in older organisms, leading to birth defects and decreasing reproductive success (Brieno-Enriquez et al, 2022;Chu et al, 2023). Other processes, such as menopause in several mammal species, put a stop to reproduction at an older age, instigating a post-reproductive life stage that is the topic of much scientific speculation (Croft et al, 2015;Gems and Kern, 2022;Monaghan and Ivimey-Cook, 2023;Takahashi et al, 2016).…”