Story perspectives
Study: 5% of Older Men's Sperm Carry Disease Mutations
10/14/2025
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Story summary
- A recent study finds that up to 5% of sperm in older men carry mutations linked to diseases due to competitive selection among stem cells in the testes.
- Researchers identified 40 genes under positive selection, with many mutations associated with developmental disorders and childhood cancers.
- One-third of these mutations arise from this selection, and another third come from normal copying errors.
