# First person – Essi Wallén

## TL;DR

This paper explores how alcohol affects gene activity, DNA methylation, and metabolism in human embryonic cells during early development.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the molecular effects of alcohol on human embryonic cells during gastrulation.

## Key findings

- Alcohol exposure alters the transcriptome of gastrulating human embryonic cells.
- Changes in DNA methylation patterns are observed following alcohol exposure.
- Metabolomic shifts indicate disrupted metabolic pathways due to alcohol.

## Abstract

First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Disease Models & Mechanisms, helping researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Essi Wallén is first author on ‘
Effects of alcohol on the transcriptome, methylome and metabolome of in vitro gastrulating human embryonic cells’, published in DMM. Essi is a PhD researcher in the lab of Nina Kaminen-Ahola at Environmental Epigenetics Laboratory, Department of Medical and Clinical Genetics, Medicum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, investigating how alcohol influences the early human development.