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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Bad dad news

Newborn Avery Luaces holds her father Dave Luaces’ thumb in their Grayslake, Ill., home.
Newborn Avery Luaces holds her father Dave Luaces’ thumb in their Grayslake, Ill., home.

Men who become fathers later in life pass on more brand-new genetic mutations to their offspring, a study has found – probably contributing to disorders such as autism and schizophrenia in the next generation.

The finding, published online Wednesday in the journal Nature, buttresses earlier observations that rates of autism and some other disorders are more prevalent in children born of older fathers, sometimes by a factor of two or more, experts said. Although this has been observed for years from population studies, scientists had not known what lay behind it. More here.

How old were you when you fathered your children?



Huckleberries Online

D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.