Immunity to diseases is passed on to the next generation

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That protection against infections is transmitted from generation to generation, it was known for a long time, but there was no direct evidence for it. Only now, an international group of geneticists has proven that immunity to diseases is transmitted to offspring.

To confirm the hypothesis, employees of the University of Bonn in Germany, in cooperation with colleagues from the Netherlands, Switzerland and Greece, infected male laboratory mice with pathogens of thrush (Candida albicans). .

After recovery, the subjects were mated with normal females, whose cubs were less susceptible to such infections. “Transmission of resistance to infection to the next generation has previously been shown in plants and invertebrates,” emphasized Professor Andreas Schlitzer, head of the study.

Unlike the usual theory of evolution, which predicts a slow immune response due to changes in the genome, this experiment proved that rapid changes in the body's protective properties are possible through the regulation of DNA activity.

Now experts have to find out how the information about sperm labeling is fixed in the bone marrow. It is the latter that is considered the place of formation of many immune cells that protect a person from diseases.