Mutation clue to disorders in older dads’ offspring

A genetic mechanism may explain why the children of older fathers are more likely to develop schizophrenia or autism.

Using genome-wide microarray screening technology, researchers compared the offspring of three month old male mice with those fathered by less sprightly 14 to 16 month old sires.

They found that mice fathered by older dads had an increased number of new copy number variants (CNVs) in their DNA.

While some genetic changes involve only one “letter” of the genetic code, CNVs can delete or repeat whole “paragraphs” of genetic code.