This question part requires you to work with an article extract about Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) published in ScienceDaily in 2020. The extract and some information about ScienceDaily and its readers is given at the end of the question. Your answer to part (a) of this question will take the form of an extended piece of writing intended for the same audience as ScienceDaily. The title for your piece of writing is: ‘Understanding the impact and causes of FASD’ Word limit: 800 words In your writing you will need to demonstrate that you can integrate the ScienceDaily information into your understanding of FASD gained from studying SK298. This means that the only sources you are required to use to prepare your answer to part (a) are the ScienceDaily extract, and the module materials. In your piece of writing, you will need to include: a brief introduction to FASD mentioning the number of pregnancies affected, the cause, and the problems associated with diagnosing it a brief summary of the human experience of FASD a summary of the aim, design and findings of the two studies described in the article extract a discussion of how the extract both fits with, and extends, the information about FASD given in the module materials, including the information on the important role of epigenetic processes during development You will also be marked on: your ability to use correct scientific terminology your ability to structure your writing into clear, concise sentences and paragraphs your ability to cite and reference your writing fully (i.e. the module materials and the extract), in the correct style Terminology: Note that the ScienceDaily article mentions the term ‘patterning’. This refers to the way in which cells in the developing nervous system acquire their cell fate and are guided to the correct spatial location to form the correct tissue structure at the correct stage of development. It also mentions a ‘methyl donor group’ which refers to a methyl branch on a molecule which can be removed and attached to another molecule, such as DNA, during DNA methylation. Alcohol consumption by fathers before conception could negatively impact child development Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have explored the relationship between parental alcohol consumption -- before conception in the case of fathers and during pregnancy in the case of mothers -- and offspring development. In a paper published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the researchers report that when alcohol-exposed male mice mated with alcohol-naïve females, the offspring displayed significant deficits in brain development. Specifically, the neocortex, the most complex part of the mammalian brain responsible for complex cognitive and behavioral function, had patterning deficits where abnormal gene expression led to miswiring of connections. Although neither these mice nor their mothers had ever been exposed to alcohol, their brains showed changes consistent with a mouse model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, or FASD. "People have known about the dangers of maternal drinking during pregnancy for years; however, the safety of paternal drinking while trying to conceive has barely been considered," said Kelly Huffman, an associate professor of psychology who led the study and whose lab generated the FASD mouse model. "Our research shows that fathers' exposure to alcohol leading up to conception can have deleterious effects on the child's brain and behavioral development." In a second paper, published in Neuropharmacology, Huffman's team reports that when female mice were given choline, an essential nutrient, along with alcohol during their pregnancies, the negative outcomes associated with prenatal alcohol exposure, such as smaller body weight, brain weight, and abnormalities in the anatomy of the neocortex, were reduced in the offspring. This suggests choline supplementation could prevent the adverse outcomes associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. "Our work shows that prenatal choline supplementation, when administered at the time of prenatal alcohol exposure, improves abnormal brain and behavioral development in offspring," Huffman said. "It rescues some of the phenotypes associated with FASD." Sins of the father In the first study, male mice consumed alcohol for approximately two-three weeks before mating with alcohol-naïve females. Huffman's team found this preconceptual paternal alcohol exposure altered neocortical gene expression and connectivity in their offspring. The offspring also demonstrated atypical features such as increased anxiety or hyperactivity and reduced motor function, consistent with some documented behavior patterns of children born to alcoholic fathers. "Fathers who consistently consume moderate to high amounts of alcohol leading up to conception may negatively impact offspring development due to the exposure to the paternal sperm," Huffman said. "In our previous study, we described how the paternal germ line specifically can transmit heritable changes through multiple generations after a single prenatal alcohol exposure. Clearly, the paternal environment before conception is critical for healthy offspring development." Additionally, the team found male offspring generally seem to be more adversely affected than female offspring by paternal alcohol exposure in terms of increased hyperactivity, impaired coordination, and impaired short-term motor learning abilities. The study is the first to examine the effects of preconceptual paternal alcohol exposure on the gross anatomical development of the neocortex, including genetic patterning and circuit development, coupled with extensive behavioral analyses in the affected offspring. Huffman's team plans to extend the mouse study to investigate whether the effects of paternal alcohol consumption on the offspring are transmitted to subsequent generations. Huffman was joined in the research by graduate students Kathleen E. Conner and Riley T. Bottom. Nutrient to the rescue Depending on maternal age, up to 18% of pregnant women in the United States report alcohol consumption during their pregnancies. Gestational or prenatal alcohol exposure can produce problematic deficits in offspring. In mice, prenatal alcohol exposure, via maternal drinking, results in gross developmental abnormalities, including decreased body weight, brain weight, and brain size. Also, the exposure causes profound abnormalities in the patterning of an infant's neocortex and the resulting circuitry, or connections, necessary for precise function. In the second study, Huffman's team exposed pregnant mice to 25% alcohol, the usual dose for the FASD model, as well as about 640 milligrams per liter of choline chloride supplement throughout the pregnancy. Her team's goal was to test potential rescue effects of choline supplementation on abnormal neocortical and behavioral development induced by prenatal alcohol exposure. Choline, a vitamin-like essential nutrient, is a methyl group donor and is crucial for proper brain development as it generates the methyl group that attaches to DNA and affects gene expression. Given the transgenerational effects of prenatal alcohol consumption discovered by the Huffman lab, Huffman's team believed co-administration of choline with alcohol could mitigate the deleterious effects of the exposure. "Our findings suggest that providing methyl group donors, such as choline, to alcoholic women during pregnancy could be effective in reducing the extent of the damage that prenatal alcohol exposure can cause," said Bottom, the first author of the research paper. "This could possibly reduce the multigenerational transmission of FASD in our prenatal alcohol exposure model." Huffman and Bottom were joined in the study by Charles W. Abbott III, a former graduate student in Huffman's lab. This work is a major component of Bottom's dissertation research. The study was supported by a grant to Huffman from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to Bottom. Materials provided by University of California - Riverside. Original written by Iqbal Pittalwala. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. About ScienceDaily and its readers: ScienceDaily says that it ‘features breaking news about the latest discoveries in science, health, the environment, technology, and more – from leading universities, scientific journals, and research organisations. Stories are posted daily, selected from press materials provided by hundreds of sources from around the world. Links to sources and relevant journal citations (where available) are included at the end of each post’. ScienceDaily is therefore a website that aims to share scientific findings with the interested public. Rather than being written in layman’s terms (a very simple straightforward style), this source uses technical scientific terms, and gives brief explanations of some of these. The readers are therefore assumed to have some understanding of science.

This question part requires you to work with an article extract about Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) published in ScienceDaily in 2020. The extract and some information about ScienceDaily and its readers is given at the end of the question. Your answer to part (a) of this question will take the form of an extended piece of writing intended for the same audience as ScienceDaily. The title for your piece of writing is: ‘Understanding the impact and causes of FASD’ Word limit: 800 words In your writing you will need to demonstrate that you can integrate the ScienceDaily information into your understanding of FASD gained from studying SK298. This means that the only sources you are required to use to prepare your answer to part (a) are the ScienceDaily extract, and the module materials. In your piece of writing, you will need to include: a brief introduction to FASD mentioning the number of pregnancies affected, the cause, and the problems associated with diagnosing it a brief summary of the human experience of FASD a summary of the aim, design and findings of the two studies described in the article extract a discussion of how the extract both fits with, and extends, the information about FASD given in the module materials, including the information on the important role of epigenetic processes during development You will also be marked on: your ability to use correct scientific terminology your ability to structure your writing into clear, concise sentences and paragraphs your ability to cite and reference your writing fully (i.e. the module materials and the extract), in the correct style Terminology: Note that the ScienceDaily article mentions the term ‘patterning’. This refers to the way in which cells in the developing nervous system acquire their cell fate and are guided to the correct spatial location to form the correct tissue structure at the correct stage of development. It also mentions a ‘methyl donor group’ which refers to a methyl branch on a molecule which can be removed and attached to another molecule, such as DNA, during DNA methylation. Alcohol consumption by fathers before conception could negatively impact child development Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have explored the relationship between parental alcohol consumption -- before conception in the case of fathers and during pregnancy in the case of mothers -- and offspring development. In a paper published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the researchers report that when alcohol-exposed male mice mated with alcohol-naïve females, the offspring displayed significant deficits in brain development. Specifically, the neocortex, the most complex part of the mammalian brain responsible for complex cognitive and behavioral function, had patterning deficits where abnormal gene expression led to miswiring of connections. Although neither these mice nor their mothers had ever been exposed to alcohol, their brains showed changes consistent with a mouse model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, or FASD. "People have known about the dangers of maternal drinking during pregnancy for years; however, the safety of paternal drinking while trying to conceive has barely been considered," said Kelly Huffman, an associate professor of psychology who led the study and whose lab generated the FASD mouse model. "Our research shows that fathers' exposure to alcohol leading up to conception can have deleterious effects on the child's brain and behavioral development." In a second paper, published in Neuropharmacology, Huffman's team reports that when female mice were given choline, an essential nutrient, along with alcohol during their pregnancies, the negative outcomes associated with prenatal alcohol exposure, such as smaller body weight, brain weight, and abnormalities in the anatomy of the neocortex, were reduced in the offspring. This suggests choline supplementation could prevent the adverse outcomes associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. "Our work shows that prenatal choline supplementation, when administered at the time of prenatal alcohol exposure, improves abnormal brain and behavioral development in offspring," Huffman said. "It rescues some of the phenotypes associated with FASD." Sins of the father In the first study, male mice consumed alcohol for approximately two-three weeks before mating with alcohol-naïve females. Huffman's team found this preconceptual paternal alcohol exposure altered neocortical gene expression and connectivity in their offspring. The offspring also demonstrated atypical features such as increased anxiety or hyperactivity and reduced motor function, consistent with some documented behavior patterns of children born to alcoholic fathers. "Fathers who consistently consume moderate to high amounts of alcohol leading up to conception may negatively impact offspring development due to the exposure to the paternal sperm," Huffman said. "In our previous study, we described how the paternal germ line specifically can transmit heritable changes through multiple generations after a single prenatal alcohol exposure. Clearly, the paternal environment before conception is critical for healthy offspring development." Additionally, the team found male offspring generally seem to be more adversely affected than female offspring by paternal alcohol exposure in terms of increased hyperactivity, impaired coordination, and impaired short-term motor learning abilities. The study is the first to examine the effects of preconceptual paternal alcohol exposure on the gross anatomical development of the neocortex, including genetic patterning and circuit development, coupled with extensive behavioral analyses in the affected offspring. Huffman's team plans to extend the mouse study to investigate whether the effects of paternal alcohol consumption on the offspring are transmitted to subsequent generations. Huffman was joined in the research by graduate students Kathleen E. Conner and Riley T. Bottom. Nutrient to the rescue Depending on maternal age, up to 18% of pregnant women in the United States report alcohol consumption during their pregnancies. Gestational or prenatal alcohol exposure can produce problematic deficits in offspring. In mice, prenatal alcohol exposure, via maternal drinking, results in gross developmental abnormalities, including decreased body weight, brain weight, and brain size. Also, the exposure causes profound abnormalities in the patterning of an infant's neocortex and the resulting circuitry, or connections, necessary for precise function. In the second study, Huffman's team exposed pregnant mice to 25% alcohol, the usual dose for the FASD model, as well as about 640 milligrams per liter of choline chloride supplement throughout the pregnancy. Her team's goal was to test potential rescue effects of choline supplementation on abnormal neocortical and behavioral development induced by prenatal alcohol exposure. Choline, a vitamin-like essential nutrient, is a methyl group donor and is crucial for proper brain development as it generates the methyl group that attaches to DNA and affects gene expression. Given the transgenerational effects of prenatal alcohol consumption discovered by the Huffman lab, Huffman's team believed co-administration of choline with alcohol could mitigate the deleterious effects of the exposure. "Our findings suggest that providing methyl group donors, such as choline, to alcoholic women during pregnancy could be effective in reducing the extent of the damage that prenatal alcohol exposure can cause," said Bottom, the first author of the research paper. "This could possibly reduce the multigenerational transmission of FASD in our prenatal alcohol exposure model." Huffman and Bottom were joined in the study by Charles W. Abbott III, a former graduate student in Huffman's lab. This work is a major component of Bottom's dissertation research. The study was supported by a grant to Huffman from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to Bottom. Materials provided by University of California - Riverside. Original written by Iqbal Pittalwala. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. About ScienceDaily and its readers: ScienceDaily says that it ‘features breaking news about the latest discoveries in science, health, the environment, technology, and more – from leading universities, scientific journals, and research organisations. Stories are posted daily, selected from press materials provided by hundreds of sources from around the world. Links to sources and relevant journal citations (where available) are included at the end of each post’. ScienceDaily is therefore a website that aims to share scientific findings with the interested public. Rather than being written in layman’s terms (a very simple straightforward style), this source uses technical scientific terms, and gives brief explanations of some of these. The readers are therefore assumed to have some understanding of science.