ReviewNature reviews. Genetics2016
Epigenetic inheritance of acquired traits through sperm RNAs and sperm RNA modifications.
Review in Nature reviews. Genetics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 272 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
272 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 572 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review on the role of paternal factors in human placental development, function, and pregnancy-related disorders.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2025Pooled it
- Decoding chromatin-associated RNA (caRNA) interaction networks: from genome-wide dynamic capture to epigenetic mechanisms in plants and animals.Epigenetics · 2026Review
- qMAP decodes RNA fragmentation dynamics in development and disease.Molecular systems biology · 2026Article
- Paternal Exposure to the Neonicotinoid Pesticide Clothianidin Alters Sperm MicroRNA Profiles in Mice and Intergenerationally Reduces Locomotor Activity in Male Offspring.Journal of applied toxicology : JAT · 2026Article
- On the state of chromatin in mammalian sperm.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Decoding the origins of cellular self-organization for engineered biology.Nature biotechnology · 2026Review
- PANDORA-seq reveals human sperm sncRNA signature endowed with sperm quality assessment.Genes & diseases · 2026Article
- Elevated zygotic let-7f-5p alters developmental trajectories and sex-specific somatic growth.iScience · 2026Article
- Testicular origin of epigenetic inheritance independent of sperm mitochondrial DNA and epididymal exposure.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Deciphering RNA modification dynamics during spermatogenesis and sperm maturation.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Article
- 100 years of the theory of the gene : Thomas Hunt Morgan's gene theory and the rise of modern genetics.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Germline and Embryonic Mechanisms in the Epigenetic Inheritance of Neurodevelopmental and Cognitive Traits in Mammals.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Sperm capacitation ability, as evaluated by Cap-Score™, has little impact on ICSI success.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2026Article
- Associations Between Perceived Stress and Sperm DNA Methylation Among Men Attending a Fertility Center.Andrology · 2026Article
- Environmentally-induced sperm RNAs shape placentation and fetal growth.Research square · 2026Article
- Sperm sncRNA networks are synchronized by a coordination between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and current stress.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Unravelling male infertility through epigenetics: present understanding and future challenges.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2026Review
- Article
- Dissecting the small RNA code of inflammatory bowel disease.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Conserved shifts in sperm small non-coding RNA profiles during mouse and human aging.The EMBO journal · 2026Article
212 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Once deemed heretical, emerging evidence now supports the notion that the inheritance of acquired characteristics can occur through ancestral exposures or experiences and that certain paternally acquired traits can be 'memorized' in the sperm as epigenetic information. The search for epigenetic factors in mammalian sperm that transmit acquired phenotypes has recently focused on RNAs and, more recently, RNA modifications. Here, we review insights that have been gained from studying sperm RNAs and RNA modifications, and their roles in influencing offspring phenotypes. We discuss the possible mechanisms by which sperm become acquisitive following environmental-somatic-germline interactions, and how they transmit paternally acquired phenotypes by shaping early embryonic development.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.