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Mechanisms And Consequences Of Epigenetic Inheritance Following Parental Preconception Alcohol Exposure, Annadorothea Asimes

Dissertations

Recent advances in genomics research have revealed that preconception behaviors and experiences of mothers and fathers, including diet, environmental toxicants, and drug abuse, can impact future offspring through epigenetic mechanisms. This means that the risky behaviors of young people, such as the extremely popular practice of binge drinking, have potentially far-reaching consequences for generations to come. While there has been considerable research into fetal alcohol exposure and parental alcoholism, there has yet to be sufficient investigation into the mechanism of epigenetic inheritance or the functional consequences of parental preconception binge pattern alcohol abuse. The hypothesis tested herein is that parental …