From Live Science:
Fathers may carry traces of their childhood trauma in their sperm cells, a new study finds.
The new research, published Jan. 3 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, looked at the “epigenetics” of the sperm cells of fathers who had been exposed to high stress in childhood. Epigenetics involves how DNA — the blueprint used to build the proteins and molecules that make up our bodies — is read. Epigenetics doesn’t change DNA’s underlying code but rather alters which genes can be switched on. Research suggests that people’s life experiences and environments can leave these “epigenetic changes” on DNA, which can then modify gene activity