COVID-19 May Trigger Inherited Anxiety in Offspring,Study Finds
Australian researchers have discovered a novel consequence of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a predisposition to anxiety transmitted from male mice to their offspring,even without any alteration to the DNA itself. The findings suggest a potential epigenetic link, were the virus leaves a “biological fingerprint“ impacting future generations.
The study, led by principal investigator Anthony Hannan, revealed that male mice infected with the virus passed on increased anxiety levels to their pups. Researchers pinpointed sperm as the likely vehicle for this transmission, analyzing its RNA content - molecules that carry genetic information and regulate cellular activity.
They found the viral infection altered the expression of various RNA molecules within the sperm. Critically, some of these RNA molecules regulate genes essential for brain construction and development. By disrupting these messengers, the virus could indirectly influence how the brains of baby mice develop.
“This could contribute to the increased anxiety we observed in offspring,due to epigenetic inheritance and altered brain development,” explained a researcher. This process doesn’t change the genetic code, but rather influences how cells interpret DNA, creating a form of “hereditary biological memory.”
While the observations are currently limited to a mouse model, the researchers emphasize the potential implications for humans. “If the hypothesis put forward by the team were one day to be confirmed, the effects detected by the team could concern ‘millions of children around the world’,” stated Hannan. Further research is crucial to determine if this epigenetic imprint also exists in humans.
If confirmed, COVID-19 would be the first known virus to induce a hereditary modification of behavior without detectable genetic mutation. This revelation could necessitate a re-evaluation of traditional heredity concepts, prompting a need to integrate the epigenetic factor into the concept of transmission, a factor currently absent from the classical darwinian view of heredity.
