While maternal health has traditionally been central to research on pregnancy and child development, there is growing recognition that paternal factors also play a role, particularly the father’s age. Several studies have found a modest increase in risk of neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism spectrum disorder, among children born to older fathers. However, the biological mechanisms underlying this association are still not fully understood.

One emerging explanation involves epigenetics, chemical modifications that influence how genes are expressed without altering the underlying DNA sequence. Among these is DNA methylation. Earlier studies have suggested that sperm from older men may carry age-related changes in DNA methylation, but few have explored these patterns on a genome-wide scale or focused specifically on regions that are most likely to influence offspring development.

The Study: Exploring Age-Dependent Methylation at Imprint Control Regions in Human Sperm

In a study, titled “Age-specific DNA methylation alterations in sperm at imprint control regions may contribute to the risk of autism spectrum disorder in offspring,” published in Aging-US and selected as the Editors’ Choice for January, 2026, researchers investigated how DNA methylation patterns in sperm change with age. The study was led by first authors Eugenia Casella and Jana Depovere, with corresponding author Adelheid Soubry from the University of Leuven.

Full blog - https://aging-us.org/2026/02/epigenetic-changes-in-sperm-may-explain-association-between-paternal-age-and-autism-risk/

Paper DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206348

Corresponding author - Adelheid Soubry - [email protected]

Video abstract - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC3p49Uw49w

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Keywords - aging, epigenome, sperm, 450K, imprinting, autism

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