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When the whole world was struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone’s focus was on only one thing: how to prevent the infection, how to treat it, and to get the vaccine as soon as possible so that life could return to normal. But now, a few years after the pandemic, scientists have revealed a new and deeper aspect of this virus. It is not limited to just the infected person, but can also affect his future generation i.e. children and surprisingly, this effect can be seen even if the infection occurs before pregnancy!

A recent study conducted at Australia’s Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health has provided concrete evidence of this. This research has been published in the prestigious scientific journal ‘Nature Communications’. It has been told that after COVID-19 infection, such changes occur in the sperms of men, which can affect the brain development and mental behavior of their children.

What does the research say?

Scientists did this study on rats, they infected some male rats with SARS-CoV-2 virus. This virus causes COVID-19 in humans. When these mice completely recovered from the infection, they were mixed with healthy female mice. Surprising behavioral differences were seen in the children born after this. Symptoms like increased anxiety, stress and restlessness were seen in the offspring born from infected male rats, especially in the female offspring. Changes were found in the part of his brain called the hippocampus. This part controls emotions, mood and memory. This indicated that COVID infection can cause some changes in the father’s body, which affect the mental health of the future child.

How and why does this effect occur?

Researchers said that after infection with the COVID-19 virus, there is a change in the RNA present in the sperms of men. This was especially seen in non-coding RNA. Non-coding RNAs are molecules that do not directly make proteins, but they decide which genes will be active and which will be inactive. That is, they work to switch genes ‘on’ or ‘off’. When the virus makes changes to these RNA, this change can be passed to the next generation through sperm. This can have a profound impact on the child’s brain development, ability to handle stress and behavior. Scientists call this process ‘Epigenetic Changes’, i.e. changes that do not change the basic structure of genes, but affect the way they function.

What does this mean for humans?

Now the next step for scientists is to know whether the same effect is seen in humans also. For this, they are planning to examine the sperm of men who have recovered from COVID-19 and study the mental or behavioral patterns in their children. If the same is found in humans, these findings will be extremely important because millions of people around the world have been infected with COVID-19. In such a situation, this virus can affect not only our breathing and lungs, but also the mental health and behavior of future generations.

Why is this discovery important?

This study calls for viewing COVID-19 not just as an infectious disease, but as a condition that can also affect human reproduction, genes and mental health. From this it can be understood that the effect of a virus can extend not only to the body but also to the psychological structure of our next generation.