Smoking Sperm
Scientists in Canada have done it! They have finally scared every male who smokes to think twice about lighting up.
It has always been in the back of our minds that smoking is harmful, but to see a science report heading that says ‘Cigarette smoke alters DNA in sperm, genetic damage could pass to offspring’ will make any man, smoker or not, look at cigarettes with an air of suspicion and guilt. It’s no longer just smoking pregnant females getting the evil eye from health conscious passerby’s, but now any male who goes near a cigarette.
These scientists used mice (not men unfortunately) to demonstrate that ‘smoking changes the DNA sequence of sperm cells, alterations that could potentially be inherited by offspring’ (Results) The mutations that occurred in the sperm were found to be irreversible and could be passed onto the next generation. Once passed on, the mutation would continue to be present in the genetic profile of the offspring. The scariest part of this experiment is that the mice were only exposed to the equivalent of 2 cigarettes a day for 12 weeks. A figure many of us social smokers would easily match on a good day. If so much damage can be done on a couple of cigarettes a day, what does that mean for serious smokers? '"/>
References:
Greg Lester ‘American Association for Cancer Risk’
http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-3/Cigarette-smoke-alters-DNA-in-sperm--genetic-damage-could-pass-to-offspring-1131-1/
June 1 issue of Cancer Research ‘Cigarette smoke alters DNA in sperm, genetic damage could pass to offspring’, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research
Scientists in Canada have done it! They have finally scared every male who smokes to think twice about lighting up.
It has always been in the back of our minds that smoking is harmful, but to see a science report heading that says ‘Cigarette smoke alters DNA in sperm, genetic damage could pass to offspring’ will make any man, smoker or not, look at cigarettes with an air of suspicion and guilt. It’s no longer just smoking pregnant females getting the evil eye from health conscious passerby’s, but now any male who goes near a cigarette.
These scientists used mice (not men unfortunately) to demonstrate that ‘smoking changes the DNA sequence of sperm cells, alterations that could potentially be inherited by offspring’ (Results) The mutations that occurred in the sperm were found to be irreversible and could be passed onto the next generation. Once passed on, the mutation would continue to be present in the genetic profile of the offspring. The scariest part of this experiment is that the mice were only exposed to the equivalent of 2 cigarettes a day for 12 weeks. A figure many of us social smokers would easily match on a good day. If so much damage can be done on a couple of cigarettes a day, what does that mean for serious smokers? '"/>
References:
Greg Lester ‘American Association for Cancer Risk’
http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-3/Cigarette-smoke-alters-DNA-in-sperm--genetic-damage-could-pass-to-offspring-1131-1/
June 1 issue of Cancer Research ‘Cigarette smoke alters DNA in sperm, genetic damage could pass to offspring’, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research
