Possible link identified between hereditary cancer genes and increased risk of cancer from alcohol - Medical News Today

In laboratory experiments conducted on human cell lines at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, scientists have shown that people carrying certain mutations in two hereditary cancer genes, BRCA2 and PALB2, may have a higher than usual susceptibility to DNA damage caused by a byproduct of alcohol, called acetaldehyde.
The scientists say they suspect that the two genes in their normal forms evolved to protect cells against the damaging effects of acetaldehyde, which can lead to cancer.

Prenatal exposure to alcohol disrupts brain circuitry: No safe level of drinking during pregnancy, neuroscientist says

 In a groundbreaking study, the UC Riverside team discovered that prenatal exposure to alcohol significantly altered the expression of genes and the development of a network of connections in the neocortex -- the part of the brain responsible for high-level thought and cognition, vision, hearing, touch, balance, motor skills, language, and emotion -- in a mouse model of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders. . Prenatal exposure caused wrong areas of the brain to be connected with each other, the researchers found.