How Previous Partners Affect Offspring

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses research findings that suggest a female's previous mates can influence the physical traits of her offspring with a new mate, even though the offspring is genetically related to the new mate. This phenomenon, known as telegony, was previously dismissed but is now being reconsidered in light of new scientific understanding of epigenetics.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Findings on the influence of previous mates

1. What did the researchers find about the influence of a female's previous mates on her offspring?

• The researchers found that even though the second male fertilized the eggs, the offspring's size was determined by the condition of the first male the female had mated with.
• This effect was not tied to the DNA in the semen, but rather to some other non-genetic factors in the semen that can influence the offspring.

2. How did the researchers test this effect?

• The researchers conducted mating experiments with female flies when their eggs were immature and more receptive to absorbing factors in the semen.
• They found that when females were first exposed to larger males and then mated with smaller males, the offspring turned out to be large, resembling the first, larger males.
• The reverse was also true - when females were first exposed to smaller males and then mated with larger males, the offspring were smaller.

3. What did the researchers do to confirm the effect was due to something in the semen?

• The researchers repeated the experiments with male flies that had their genitalia glued down so they could not pass on any semen during mating.
• In these cases, the size of the first "mating" male did not affect the size of the offspring when the female mated with her second mate.

[02] Implications and significance

1. What is the historical context of this phenomenon called "telegony"?

• The idea of a female's previous mates having an effect on their offspring, known as telegony, was proposed by ancient scholars like Aristotle but was dismissed with the advent of genetics.
• However, new findings about epigenetics have made the idea of non-genetic inheritance possible.

2. What are the potential implications if this phenomenon occurs in humans?

• The researchers say they do not want to speculate about the potential implications for human reproduction, as there is no direct scientific evidence for this in humans yet.
• However, the findings open up the possibility that factors beyond just DNA can be passed on to offspring, which could have significant implications.

3. How do the researchers view the significance of these findings?

• The researchers say these findings show that "it's not just DNA that gets passed on" and "opens up the opportunity for all these other pathways that we had excluded" in understanding inheritance.