After all, the cause of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) is defined by the warning label on the bottle. Investigation into the impacts of preconception paternal alcohol exposures on offspring health was a challenging field to enter. The transmission of a paternal memory that only affects male progeny, while interesting, is vexing and highlights the complexity of mammalian mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance. Others observe similar results in studies examining different drugs of abuse, including cocaine and cannabis (8–10). Through these studies, we have consistently identified adverse outcomes in placental development and long-term health measures in male offspring but less so in females. For the past six years, my research group has focused on examining the impact of paternal alcohol exposures on offspring health and development (2–7). Interestingly, here as well, alterations in the paternal epigenetic program appear to preferentially impact the male offspring, albeit with predominantly negative outcomes. Our efforts to understand the developmental origins of birth defects and disease have recently expanded to include paternal exposures before conception, which emerging clinical and animal model research can link to a range of physiologic and behavioral changes in the next generation. Therefore, consciously or not, males preferentially invest more resources in their sons. However, fathers spend more time with their sons than daughters and are more likely to support male offspring in reaching their academic and professional goals (1). Sociological research indicates that in the United States, parents desire families with a child of each gender. This blog is also available on our Medium Channel.Ī Father's Day question: Why do fathers (epigenetically) treat their sons and daughters differently? The frustrations and musings of an alcohol researcher working in the field of paternal epigenetic programming.
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