Researchers have discovered biomarkers in human sperm that help reveal the propensity of autism spectrum disorder in offspring. The epigenetic biomarkers are independent of genetic material and are able to be passed down to future generations.
Their study was published in the journal Clinical Epigenetics. Scientists found DNA methylation regions in sperm samples from men who were known to have autistic children. The researchers used a set of blind tests to determine if the presence of these features revealed the risk of fathering autistic children. The result of the study demonstrated 90% accuracy in identifying this risk.
"We can now potentially use this to assess whether a man is going to pass autism on to his children," said Michael Skinner, professor of biological sciences at Washington State University and author on the study. "It is also a major step toward identifying what factors might promote autism."
"We found out years ago that environmental factors can alter the germline, the sperm or the egg, epigenetics," continued Skinner. "With this tool we could do larger population-based studies to see what kinds of environmental factors may induce these types with epigenetic changes."