Father’s Diet tagged posts

High-protein paternal diet confers an advantage to sons in sperm competition. Biology Letters, 2017; 13 (2): 20160914 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0914

New research involving Monash University biologists has debunked the view that males just pass on genetic material and not much else to their offspring. Instead, it found a father’s diet can affect their son’s ability to out-compete a rival’s sperm after mating. The study sought to understand if the nutritional history of fathers had an effect on their sons. Experiments were carried out in the fruit fly, which shares many similar pathways and characteristics with human genes.

Dr Susanne Zajitschek from the School of Biological Sciences, said the study highlighted the importance of the paternal environment on future generations, even a long time b...