Figure 2. Epigenomic drugs may alter epigenetic programming in the germline and may alter health and development in offspring.

Epigenomic drugs are being used for cancer therapies and other disorders such as epilepsy; however, potential impacts of epigenomic drugs on the germline remain largely unexplored. As germ cells contain substantial epigenetic information, treatment with epigenomic drugs may alter the epigenetic information in sperm and oocytes (eggs). As epigenomic drugs work systemically, changes to the germline epigenome cannot be excluded and may result in altered health and development of subsequent offspring. In this diagram, the pale-blue background represents what is occurring in the patient whereas the pink background represents the patient’s children. Green gametes represent epigenetically normal sperm and oocytes, whereas blue gametes represent sperm and oocytes with altered epigenomes.