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Researchers at Britain's Oxford University and Denmark's Copenhagen University Hospital say they've discovered a link between some severe childhood genetic disorders and rare testicular tumors that occur in older men. Specifically, the scientists said the germ cells that make mutant gene-carrying sperm seem to be the same cells that produce the tumor.
"We think most men develop these tiny clumps of mutant cells in their testicles as they age," said Oxford University Professor Andrew Wilkie, who led the research. "They are rather like moles in the skin, usually harmless in themselves. But by being located in the testicle, they also make sperm -- causing children to be born with a variety of serious conditions. We call them 'selfish' because the mutations benefit the germ cell, but are harmful to offspring."
He said the findings help explain the origins of several serious conditions that affect childhood growth and development, as well as some conditions causing stillbirth.
The study is detailed in the journal Nature Genetics.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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