8/9/2019 Scientists Unravel How Alcohol Harms Developing Foetus

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/scientists-unravel-how-alcohol-harms-developing-foetus 1/1

Scientists unravel how alcohol harms developing foetus

Sydney: The fact that alcohol consumption during pregnancy can harm the developing foetus is

long known. Research now explains the underlying mechanism behind the ill-effects of alcohol

during pregnancy.

Even moderate consumption of alcohol during pregnancy affects the activity of genes in the

developing foetus, lasting until adulthood, a new study says.

Suyinn Chong, of the Epigenetics Lab, Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), said:

"We are looking at the mechanisms that control our genes - known as epigenetics... in other 

words whether they are switched on or off."

"These epigenetic changes determine whether a gene is converted into protein, which ultimately

controls physical traits," said Chong.

"Using mice as a model, we have shown for the first time that alcohol consumed during the first

trimester affects the developing foetus by altering the epigenetic information," he added.

The researchers used specific mice, whose fur colour reflected these epigenetic changes. Half the

mothers drank relatively moderate amounts of alcohol (equivalent to a peak blood alcohol

reading of 0.12 in humans) during pregnancy, while the other half consumed water.

The mice that drank alcohol had twice as many dark-furred offspring compared to mothers

who were not exposed to alcohol. The resulting change in coat colour is an indication of thechanged epigenetic state of the coat colour gene, said a QIMR release.

Some alcohol-exposed offspring exhibited subtle skull malformations, similar to features seen in

human fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) - a condition that causes growth restriction, intellectual

disabilities and changes to the shape and size of the skull as a result of high levels of alcohol

consumption during pregnancy.