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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 "Do infertile men have problems in packaging, and is that the basis of their problem?" Cairns asked. "We already have preliminary evidence that the majority of infertile men have problems in gene packaging. There is an incorrect ratio of histones to protamine."
Cairns said that the gene packaging issue is related to another biological aspect of DNA expression -- DNA methylation. Some subunits of the DNA molecules ordinarily have molecules called methyl groups attached to them. Lack of methylation can also contribute to infertility, he said.
The Utah group is working on a test that could define the root issues in men with fertility problems, Cairns said. "We are working toward a clinical diagnostic test for infertile men that would assess their packaging and DNA methylation status so that we could counsel them on whether they can have success in achieving fertility," he said.
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The concept of possible intervention to improve fertility is much more distant, he said.
From the basic science point of view, one major lesson of the discovery is that DNA is not the only molecule that can carry genetic information from generation to generation, said William G. Kelly, an associate professor of biology at Emory University, whose review article will appear in the same issue of the journal.
What the study shows "is that the histones still sitting there have really important information that actually guides the genes that regulate early events in the development of the next generation," Kelly said.
That idea has been proposed, but "it was not clear that this information could survive the packaging in sperm," he said.
"This firmly shows that information that's there can be information that is passed across generations and that is not encoded in DNA," Kelly said.
More information
The Yale Fertility Center has more on the causes and treatment of infertility. Page: << Prev | 1 | 2
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