More mutations with higher aged fathers?

[Hneel]

In the past I've read stuff indicating that the 'risk' of DNA mutations increased when the father of a child was of higher age. Is this also the case with Y-DNA STR mutations?

In my paternal line I found a number of ancestors who had fathers of age 40+. Could this influence the results of the matches search?

[Ann Turner]

In the past I've read stuff indicating that the 'risk' of DNA mutations increased when the father of a child was of higher age. Is this also the case with Y-DNA STR mutations?

In my paternal line I found a number of ancestors who had fathers of age 40+. Could this influence the results of the matches search?

Yes, the Y-STR mutation rate is higher in older fathers, but the effect is rather subtle. Sometimes early studies with small sample sizes would find an effect of age but other studies would not. When all the data was pooled, there was a trend toward more mutations, but for all practical purposes, the random nature of mutations swamps the effect of age.