How does maternal age affect genomic stability in the offspring?

In high-income countries, women tend to give birth at increasingly advanced ages. Despite its physiological, developmental, and medical consequences, why this tendency significantly affects genetic stability of the offspring remains largely unresolved. Accumulating evidence indicates that the higher the age of the mother at fertilization, the more intense the activity of transposable elements causing insertional mutations in functional DNA stretches in her oocyte involved in zygote formation.

Automated summary

Women in high-income countries are giving birth at older ages, which has significant implications for the genetic stability of their offspring. Research suggests that the older the mother is at fertilization, the more intense the activity of transposable elements that cause insertional mutations in functional DNA regions involved in the formation of the zygote.