Scientists in Taiwan have used genome sequencing to demonstrate that men who become fathers later in life are more likely to pass on new genetic mutations that increase the risk of schizophrenia in their children.
The study, conducted by researchers at the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) and National Taiwan University, was published in Molecular Psychiatry in March.
At a news conference yesterday, NHRI vice president Chen Wei-jen (陳為堅) said that while the risks associated with advanced maternal age are well documented, the impact of paternal age on offspring health has received far less attention.
Photo: CNA
NHRI National Center for Geriatrics and Welfare Research assistant researcher Wang Shi-heng (王世亨) said that the team had previously examined correlations between paternal age and schizophrenia using a dataset of more than 7 million Taiwanese medical records.
The study found that children born to fathers aged 25 to 29 had a 0.5 percent lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia, while those whose fathers were 50 or older at the time of birth had a 1 percent risk, Wang said.
The risk increased further if the child’s maternal or paternal grandfather was also of advanced age when the child’s parent was born, he said.
Researchers have proposed two explanations for this pattern — one suggests that men with a higher predisposition to mental illness might be more likely to marry and have children later in life, Wang said.
The second is biological: Because men continue producing sperm throughout their lives, each successive cell division carries a greater chance of replication errors, leading to new genetic mutations that might be passed on to offspring, he said.
The latter explanation is supported by additional evidence, including findings that a higher number of rare mutations correlates with increased schizophrenia risk, and that men pass on about four times as many new genetic mutations to their children as women, he added.
In an effort to prove a causal relationship, the NHRI team conducted whole-genome sequencing on five Taiwanese families, each comprising three siblings diagnosed with schizophrenia and two unaffected parents, he said.
They found that for each additional year a man delayed fatherhood, his child had 1.5 times more new genetic mutations, he said.
A higher number of such mutations was associated with an earlier onset of schizophrenia symptoms in the affected children, he added.
Quantitatively, the study found that about 30 percent of the relationship between paternal age and the age of schizophrenia onset could be explained by age-related mutations, while the remaining 70 percent was likely influenced by familial and environmental factors, Wang said.
Chen said that earlier NHRI research had shown that a paternal age younger than 20 is linked to various other health risks for offspring.
Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of public policies that encourage couples to have children within an optimal age range, he said.
The average age of mothers at childbirth in Taiwan increased from 27.2 in 1991 to 32.4 in 2023, while the average age of fathers rose from 30.3 to 34.6 over the same period, government data showed.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
Restarting the No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would take up to 18 months, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today. Kuo was answering questions during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, where legislators are considering amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條) amid concerns about the consequences of the Pingtung County reactor’s decommissioning scheduled for May 17. Its decommissioning is to mark the end of Taiwan’s nuclear power production. However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of existing
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday demanded that Somalia reverse its decision prohibiting Taiwanese passport holders from entering or transiting through the country. Somalia said it is following the “one China” principle based on UN Resolution 2758. The ministry said that Somalia is misinterpreting the resolution under China’s instigation, creating a false impression that Taiwan is subordinate to China. The Somali Civil Aviation Authority told airlines on Tuesday last week that starting today, any passengers with passports or travel documents issued from Taiwan or its affiliated institutions would not be allowed to enter or transit through Somalia. The decision comes as Taiwan is boosting