Alcohol’s deleterious impact on neuronal function is most likely caused by its oxidation product acetaldehyde (Wang et al., 2000), and accumulation of DNA damage can be caused by this highly reactive alcohol break down product. The cell has a mechanism to combat acetaldehydes deleterious effects, and this is by enzymatically converting acetaldehyde to acetone, which is mediated by aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) (Lai et al., 2014). The importance of this enzyme is illustrated in the ~ 540 million people that carry a polymorphism in ALDH2, where alcohol consumption in these individuals promotes an aversive response and their risk of developing esophageal cancer increases (Yokoyama & Omori, 2003). Furthermore, ~ 8% of the world’s population, specifically individuals of East Asian ancestry, have an inherited genetic variant in ALDH2. This immediately raises the question: Are stem cells (specifically neural stem cells) sensitive 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
