How a father's stimulant use can change his children's response to drugs
Transgenerational Inheritance of a Cocaine Resistance Phenotype
Researchers are seeing if a father's cocaine or meth use can change how his children and grandchildren respond to stimulants.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Newark, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11262237 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project uses rat models to learn whether fathers' self-administered cocaine or methamphetamine changes behavior and gene regulation in their offspring and grand-offspring. Male rats self-administer drugs, then scientists measure drug-seeking behavior in male and female descendants and compare effects across generations. The team analyzes sperm and brain tissue (nucleus accumbens) with epigenetic sequencing methods (like ATAC-seq and bisulfite sequencing) to find molecular marks that could carry information across generations. The work compares cocaine and meth effects to identify shared or opposite influences on later drug responses.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults with a history of cocaine or meth use or parents concerned about how past stimulant use might affect future children would be most interested in these findings and in related future human studies.
Not a fit: People seeking immediate treatment for their own addiction are unlikely to receive direct clinical benefit from this animal-focused research right away.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal biological ways parental stimulant use changes risk for addiction in descendants and point to markers or targets to reduce that risk.
How similar studies have performed: Prior animal studies, including the team's earlier work, have shown that paternal cocaine exposure can alter offspring behavior and sperm epigenetic marks, but translation to humans remains unproven.
Where this research is happening
Newark, UNITED STATES
- Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences — Newark, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Pierce, Robert Christopher — Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Pierce, Robert Christopher
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.