What happens in the gonads does not stay in the gonads

[Rhyothemis]

This is basic research for those interested in that kind of thing - if that's not you, just ignore.

Short version - protein aggregates in nematode worm gonads set off a stress response that propagates throughout the organism, causing changes in mitochondrial function and potentially increasing protein aggregation elsewhere. It is not known if this happens in mammals.

advances.sciencemag.org/con...

This news might not be such a big deal as it has already been reported that Wnt signalling is altered in post-menopausal women due to loss of estrogen & rates of neurodegeneration increase after menopause. However, it would be interesting to know whether in mammals insults to the ovaries earlier in life (and testes?) may propagate the stress response (mitochondrial unfolded protein response) throughout the body.