Molecular memory: How maternal age leaves lasting marks on offspring cells

Molecular memory: How maternal age leaves lasting marks on offspring cells

A tiny aquatic animal is offering scientists a new explanation for one of biology’s most persistent mysteries: how a mother’s age can influence the characteristics of her descendants. Research on the rotifer Brachionus manjavacas suggests that maternal age effects may be transmitted not through the gradual accumulation of DNA mutations or cellular damage, but through reversible epigenetic changes that regulate gene activity. The findings, from a…