A
team of reproductive biologists at the University of Austin ran a study on
sexual behavior in animals. They exposed the animals to a common fungicide
commonly used by grape growers. One group continued to receive a normal diet
without the chemical. They exposed the other group to the pesticide, separated
the females from the males with a wire mesh barrier, and then observed them to
see if they continued to mate normally. The females were less sexually
interested in males who’d been exposed. And what was even more interesting was
that for three generations the females tended to ignore the exposed animals and
their offspring. The females’ response to the healthy males was unchanged.
The females could tell something was wrong with the exposed males, even
though they couldn’t see it. The researchers speculated that the pesticide may
have turned off or damaged the gene that helps males win females over. They
speculated that the same problem may be showing up in humans.
Crews D, Gore A, Hsu T, Dangleben N, Spinetta M, Schallert T,
Anway M, Skinner M. "Transgenerational epigenetic imprints on mate
preference." Proc
Natl Acad Sci. 2007;104(14):5942-6.
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