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Older males beget more mutations

Nature Genetics volume 44, pages 1174–1176 (2012)Cite this article

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Three papers characterizing human germline mutation rates bolster evidence for a relatively low rate of base substitution in modern humans and highlight a central role for paternal age in determining rates of mutation. These studies represent the advent of a transformation in our understanding of mutation rates and processes, which may ultimately have public health implications.

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Figure 1: Comparing the birth prevalence of developmental disorders caused by maternal chromosomal aneuploidies and paternal de novo base substitutions.

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  1. Matthew Hurles is at the The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.,

    Matthew Hurles

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  1. Matthew Hurles
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Correspondence to Matthew Hurles.

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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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Hurles, M. Older males beget more mutations. Nat Genet 44, 1174–1176 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.2448

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