A Supersize Burger May Mean Minisize Sperm

Tetracycline, a widely used antibiotic that is given to livestock, not only may harm sperm in men who take the drug or consume it in meat, it may also compromise the fertility of their sons.

Lab tests on animals show that the harm to sperm caused by this antibiotic is passed on to the next generation.

“This is the first research to show a transgenerational effect of antibiotics,” says researcher David Zeh of the University of Nevada. Zeh and his team of scientists gave tetracycline to pseudoscorpions, small creatures whose sperm is easy to observe.

“Tetracycline has a significant detrimental effect on male reproductive function and sperm viability of pseudoscorpions, reducing viability by up to 25 percent. Now we know that effect is passed on to the next generation. We didn’t see the effect in subsequent generations.”

Tetracycline is commonly used as an additive in animal feed.