Often in animals, including humans, the age of the parents can have negative effects on the offspring. Individuals from older parents see their survival and performance reduced. For several years, scientists have believed that telomeres, the ends of chromosomes, integrate in one way or another the age of the parents, are transmitted to the descendants and predict their lower survival. Telomeres are markers of aging and also play a key role in the development of cancers", underlines Andreaz Dupoue, researcher in evolutionary ecophysiology at theYou can find out more about Ifremer by clicking here., during an interview for Science and Future.
With his team, he was interested in the reproductive aging of cupped oysters, Magallana gigas, and their sensitivity to herpesvirus. Their results reveal that oysters from older parents are more sensitive to this virus, OsHV1 by its scientific name. Beyond this observation, the scientists made another discovery: this viral infection triggers a mechanism similar to that involved in 90% cancers. Their results were published in the journal Science Advances.
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