Duke University study shows that exposure to cannabis alters DNA of sperm


The recently published results of a study at Duke University showed a direct correlation between exposure to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical in cannabis, and structural and regulatory changes in the DNA of sperm.

“What we have found is that the effects of cannabis use on males and their reproductive health are not completely null, in that there’s something about cannabis use that affects the genetic profile in sperm,” said Scott Kollins, Ph.D., professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke and senior author of the study.

“We don’t yet know what that means, but the fact that more and more young males of child-bearing age have legal access to cannabis is something we should be thinking about,” Kollins said.

The study looked at users who smoked cannabis at least weekly for the previous six months and compared their sperm with individuals who had not been exposed to THC in the previous six months and no more than 10 times in their lifetime. The more THC the men had in their urine, the study found, the more pronounced the genetic changes to their sperm. 

How the genetic changes could affect a child born of one of the altered sperm was not addressed in the study and is still not know. 

According to one of the researchers involved in the study, "it's unknown whether sperm affected by THC could be healthy enough to even fertilize an egg and continue it's development into an embryo." 

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