to accumulating DNA damage when exposed to alcohol, due to acetaldehyde accumulation? Interestingly, a recent study (Garaycoechea et al., 2018) showed that alcohol-derived aldehydes negatively impact the genomic stability of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) the cells that renew blood. DNA damage is normally combatted via surveillance and repair mechanisms, where the primary line of defense is provided by ALDH2-mediated detoxification. These data may not be limited to explaining how alcohol impacts HSCs but may also provide some insight into neural stem cell genomic instability caused by alcohol exposure. Furthermore, in this study, (Garaycoechea et al., 2018) created a method to determine the mutational landscape of individual HSCs, and applying this technology to map the mutational landscape of neural stem cells can help researchers understand how alcohol affects differentiation into mature neurons.
