Changing paternal age distribution and the human mutation rate in Europe.

All available evidence indicates that the human mutation rate increases with paternal age. In developed countries, a reduction in the proportion of older parents is a common feature of the marked changes in parental age distribution that occur as a result of family planning. We have related the current paternal age distribution in the European countries for which data is readily available, to a derived curve for paternal age-specific relative mutation rate. The results indicate that, to the extent that it is dependent on paternal age, the mutation rate has decreased considerably in developed countries during the past 50 years. The human mutation rate is a dynamic entity, continuously changing in response to social conditions.