It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Telescopes can help bring renewable energy to isolated Chilean communities
Utrecht University
Just published research in Nature Sustainability shows that building a renewable energy system for a telescope in Chile’s isolated Atacama Desert could also cover 66% of a nearby community’s energy needs, giving hope for win-win development around other remote infrastructure projects.
Integrating renewable energy sources into the design of the AtLAST telescope would introduce the astronomical community on the Chajnantor plateau and the nearby residential areas to more sustainable energy systems. This integration would reduce local reliance on fossil fuels and provide renewable energy.
The research shows that replicating similar energy systems at nearby telescopes could reduce fossil fuel-based energy generation by 30GWh annually, cutting emissions by 18-24 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent while contributing to access to affordable renewable energy for surrounding communities.
Remote astronomical facilities
Home to observatories like the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the Chajnantor plateau in the Atacama Desert, Chile is a global astronomical prime spot. Due to their remoteness, astronomical facilities are often disconnected from the national electricity grid and rely on diesel and gas generators to supply their power-intensive operations.
Atacama Desert a prime location for solar energy
The Atacama Desert is also a prime location for solar energy projects, holding the highest levels of solar irradiation globally. However, although the area hosts 85% of Chile’s solar energy developments, Atacameños pay more for their energy than the capital region. For example, the national electricity grid ends 100km from San Pedro de Atacama, which besides Patagonia is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in Chile. The town and its surrounding areas operated solely diesel and natural gas generators until 2022 and suffer frequent power outages. Most renewable energy generated in the region is used to power lithium mines and exported to other provinces.
The researchers identified the feasibility of using surplus energy from the AtLAST telescope’s energy system to supply San Pedro de Atacama. “A solar renewable energy system sized to supply the telescope could cover 66% of the electricity demand of San Pedro de Atacama without additional capacities in PV or battery,” says co-author Luis Ramirez Camargo, an assistant professor at Utrecht University’s Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development.
Energy communities
This idea is based on “energy communities”, a union of public, private and commercial entities that jointly invest in or share energy infrastructure or provide energy services, and builds on open and fair decision-making.
The researchers created spaces where local residents and other affected parties could share their take on the challenges and opportunities for a more sustainable energy system in the San Pedro de Atacama area. “Allowing those who are truly affected to participate in the discussion and be able to influence decision-making is essential to arrive at just, locally applicable solutions for the energy transition,” says lead author Guillermo Valenzuela Venegas, a researcher at the University of Oslo.
“Distributing benefits to multiple stakeholders through an energy community can lead to a more socially accepted and just energy transition,” says Ramirez Camargo. “Our research shows that astronomy can lead by example in the urgent transition to an equitable net-zero world, keeping our planet habitable and ensuring no one is left behind”.
A renewable and socially accepted energy system for astronomical telescopes
Article Publication Date
11-Oct-2024
UNH helps community document skeletal remains found on historic ‘poor farm’
Partners with town of Brentwood and state officials to return remains to original resting place
University of New Hampshire
image:
The remains from the poor house were buried in a simple worrdne box crafted by a local cabinet shop that was inscribed with “Here lies remains only known to God, Brentwood Poor Farm, circa 1841 – 1968”.
DURHAM, N.H.—(October 10, 2024)— On a bright autumn afternoon, a plain wooden box crafted by a local cabinet shop containing skeletal remains was returned to its final resting place during a simple reburial ceremony in Brentwood. Researchers and students from the University of New Hampshire’s Forensic Anthropology Identification and Recovery (F.A.I.R.) Lab worked for two years with town officials and the New Hampshire state archaeologist to investigate and document the remains, which were uncovered more than 20 years ago during construction and were identified as being from a farm for paupers during the mid-1800’s, commonly known as a poor farm.
“We analyzed the skeletal remains to determine their age and condition and help solve the mystery of why they were buried in the remote area in an unmarked grave,” said Alex Garcia-Putnam, co-director of UNH’s F.A.I.R. Lab. “After several years of documenting the skeletal remains, we were honored to not only provide valuable information about their lives but to also have the rare opportunity to be present at the reburial— to put these individuals at peace and offer all interested parties some sense of closure.”
The remains of the farm workers were mistakenly uncovered during excavation on private property in 1999. The New Hampshire state archaeologist was called to the site and determined that the remains were historic due to their age and condition and they were transferred to the New Hampshire medical examiner’s office for storage, where they remained for 23 years. In 2022, the remains were transferred to UNH where researchers went to work on skeletal analysis.
UNH’s F.A.I.R. Lab works with law enforcement and the state’s medical examiner’s office to help identify remains. In this case, the work was more historical in nature and the team evaluated the bones to date them and determine the health of the individuals as well as sift through town records and maps to learn more about the historical significance of the area where the remains were found. According to their research, which is chronicled in a paper in the journal of American Antiquity, the remains showed signs of hardship, such as poverty and hard labor and left signs of several health issues like osteoarthritis, dental disease and other signs of physiological stress. The remains were originally found in a grave without any markers—another indication of poverty—on land that was thought to formerly be the Brentwood Poor Farm from 1841 to 1868.
Poor farms were institutions set up as a type of welfare in rural counties in the United States during the 19th and early 20th century to provide support for the poor and other groups of dependent residents. The farms were set up to offer room and board in exchange for labor but the treatment of residents was often exploitive and violent. It is said that poor farms were started to keep marginalized individuals—including a mix of poverty, race, ethnicity and mental or physical illness—out of view of the middle and upper classes.
The town of Brentwood worked closely with the current landowners to set up a reinterment
in the precise location of the original grave. The paupers at the farm were most likely buried in hasty unmarked graves and their final resting place was forgotten over time as the poor farm model for social welfare was dissolved in the 1930s and 1940s and the land passed into private ownership.
"All individuals deserve a respectful final burial and we hope that this event shows that Brentwood cares about its residents,” said Joyce Keegal, superintendent of cemeteries in Brentwood. “We are so thankful for the work done by UNH to not only help shed light on the lives of these individuals but to also help us advocate for them.”
“This has been an amazing community collaboration by the town of Brentwood, the state, the homeowners and UNH to not only provide answers and connect the threads but also bring closure and meaningful resolutions for all involved,” said Amy Michael, co-director of UNH’s F.A.I.R. lab. “We work on all kinds of investigations—criminal to cold cases—and it is so fulfilling to move someone from a shelf in a medical examiner’s office humanizing them by giving them a dignified burial. Today was a good day.”
The burial site is on private property in an undisclosed area. Plans are in place by Brentwood town officials and historical society for a future exhibit about the Brentwood Poor Farm.
Caption: Faculty and students from UNH’s F.A.I.R. Lab reflect during a eulogy given by Albert Edward Belanger, Brentwood cemetery trustee, at the reburial of skeletal remains from the mid-1800’s. The UNH team worked for two years with town officials and the New Hampshire state archaeologist to investigate and document the remains identified as being from the Brentwood Poor Farm which existed from 1841 to 1868.
Caption: A local cabinet shop donated their time to craft a simple wooden box for the poor farm remains that was inscribed with “Here lies remains only known to God, Brentwood Poor Farm, circa 1841 – 1968”.
Caption: UNH F.A.I.R. Lab team and state archaeologist who helped document the remains. From left to right, Mark Doperalski, N.H. state archaeologist; Amy Michael, co-director of UNH F.A.I.R. Lab; Isabella Thomson (’24); Ella Tartsa (’25), UNH F.A.I.R. Lab manager; Alex Garcia-Putnam, co-director of UNH F.A.I.R. Lab; and Ashanti Maronie (’23).
Caption: Alex Garcia-Putnam, co-director of UNH’s F.A.I.R. Lab, places the box of remains from the Brentwood Poor Farm (1841 – 1968) in its final resting place.
Photo Credit: Robbin Ray/UNH
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About UNH The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from 50 states and 87 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. A Carnegie Classification R1 institution, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF, and NIH, and received over $210 million in competitive external funding in FY23 to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.
Extreme heat may substantially raise mortality risk for people experiencing homelessness
A new study found that deaths among unhoused people in two major West Coast cities were 10 to 100 times greater than heat-attributable deaths among the general population
Boston University School of Public Health
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 10, 2024
By nature of their living situation, people experiencing homelessness (PEH) are considered one of the most vulnerable populations to the health impacts of extreme weather.
PEH are particularly vulnerable to heat, and the impact of heat on mortality in this group is substantially greater than for the general population, according to a new study by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH).
Published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the study examined mortality rates in two hot-climate US counties—Clark County in Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, and Los Angeles County in California—and found that daily heat played a significant role in mortality among PEH.
This association was especially notable in Clark County, where nearly 50 percent of deaths during the study period were attributable to higher daily temperatures. Although LA County observed a smaller percentage of heat-attributable deaths, at 5.2 percent, daily heat appeared to contribute to many more deaths than daily cold in both counties.
The study is the first to examine heat-attributable mortality among PEH, providing valuable public health insight as the West Coast reels from an unprecedented October heatwave that has prompted numerous heat alerts in parts of LA and Las Vegas, where temperatures soared to 111 degrees and 104 degrees, respectively, in recent days. Both cities also continue to grapple with persistently high homelessness rates that far exceed the national average. Quantifying the impacts of extreme heat on PEH can inform new interventions and policies that reduce illness and mortality rates among this largely unsheltered population.
“It wasn’t a surprise that our team found an association between heat and mortality for unhoused people, but the magnitude was staggering,” says study senior and corresponding author Dr. Jonathan Jay, assistant professor of community health sciences at BUSPH. “Our estimates are 10 to 100 times greater than the known associations between daily heat and mortality for the general population in LA and Las Vegas, and this finding highlights the moral imperative for our systems to do more.”
He says the new findings also show that heat exposure is an important factor amplifying the vast health inequities for PEH, and highlight the need to center the most marginalized populations in research on climate and health.
For the study, Dr. Jay and colleagues from BUSPH and the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles utilized mortality and daily temperature data for Clark and Los Angeles counties from January 2015 to August 2022 (for Clark County) and November 2022 (for LA County). The team analyzed deaths from all causes, rather than just deaths that were acutely heat- or cold-related (such as fatal heat stroke or hyperthermia), to ensure that the analysis captured all external causes of death as a result of high temperatures. Hot weather was defined as daily temperatures above the minimum mortality temperature (MMT)—the temperature at which mortality risk is lowest in each area—which was 11.6 Celsius (52.8 degrees Fahrenheit) for Clark County and 19.3 Celsius for LA County (66.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
After accounting for long-term and seasonal trends, days of the week, and cumulative effects of consecutive days’ temperatures, the researchers found that mortality risk among PEH increased in both hotter and colder temperatures. The heat was especially harmful in Clark County, where 15 percent of deaths were due to acutely heat-related causes, compared to 0.2 percent in LA County. Extremely hot days accounted for nearly 25 percent of all deaths in Clark County and 2.2 percent of all deaths in LA County.
“It was important to see that deaths increased as daily temperatures increased, from cool days to warmer days, and they spiked on hotter days, starting around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and higher,” Dr. Jay says. “That’s hot, but it’s not even close to the hottest temperatures these cities experience,” he adds, which suggests that public health advocates should be extra vigilant in providing heat-related support beyond the summer season, as climate change continues to extend the number and length of heat waves each year.
Public health strategies that can mitigate heat impacts among PEH in communities include cooling centers, water stations, greening, and reflective painting, the researchers say. But, ultimately, these strategies should embrace a “Housing First” approach, as the primary cause of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing. California, in particular, is consistentlyranked as one of the most expensive states to live in the US. Policies that promote stable housing and other financial support for PEH are even more critical following the Supreme Court’s ruling in June that permits cities to ban people from sleeping and camping in public places.
“Too much of our policy is driven by the impulse to hide homelessness from view, rather than to recognize people’s dignity, protect their health, and improve our systems,” says Dr. Jay. “The idea that policing is key to solving this problem is false, and it’s a miscalculation we make over and over again as a society.”
The lead author of the study is Dr. Zihan Lin, a BUSPH postdoctoral fellow at the time of the study and a current assistant professor of biological, geographical and environmental sciences at Cleveland State University.
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About Boston University School of Public Health
Founded in 1976, Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top ten ranked schools of public health in the world. It offers master's- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations—especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable—locally and globally.
Daily heat and mortality among people experiencing homelessness in 2 urban US counties, 2015-2022 Get access Arrow
Article Publication Date
25-Sep-2024
COI Statement
G.A.W. serves as a consultant to the Health Effects Institute and recently served as a consultant for Google, LLC.
Scientists bring socioeconomic status at the forefront of epidemic modelling
Study shows how neglecting income, education, and ethnicity affects disease spread predictions on COVID-19 data
11-Oct-2024 Queen Mary University of London
An international team of researchers have developed an innovative approach to epidemic modeling that could transform how scientists and policymakers predict the spread of infectious diseases. Led by Dr Nicola Perra, Reader in Applied Mathematics, the study published in Science Advances introduces a new framework that incorporates socioeconomic status (SES) factors — such as income, education, and ethnicity — into epidemic models.
"Epidemic models typically focus on age-stratified contact patterns, but that’s only part of the picture," said Dr Perra. "Our new framework acknowledges that other factors—like income and education—play a significant role in how people interact and respond to public health measures. By including these SES variables, we’re able to create more realistic models that better reflect real-world epidemic outcomes."
Dr Perra and his collaborators have addressed this critical oversight with a framework that uses "generalised contact matrices" to stratify contacts across multiple dimensions, including SES. This allows for a more detailed and realistic representation of how diseases propagate through different population groups, especially those facing socioeconomic disadvantage. The study demonstrates how failing to account for these variables can lead to large misrepresentations in epidemic predictions, undermining both public health strategies and policy decisions.
The team’s approach draws on both formal mathematical derivations and empirical data. Their study establishes that ignoring SES dimensions can lead to underestimations of key parameters, such as the basic reproductive number (R₀), which measures the average number of secondary infections caused by a single infected individual. Using synthetic data and real-world data from Hungary, collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers show how including SES indicators provides more accurate estimates of disease burden and reveals crucial disparities in outcomes across different socioeconomic groups.
"The COVID-19 pandemic was a stark reminder that the burden of infectious diseases is not borne equally across the population," said Dr Perra. "Socioeconomic factors played a decisive role in how different groups were affected, and yet most of the epidemic models we rely on today still fail to explicitly incorporate these critical dimensions. Our framework brings these variables to the forefront, allowing for more comprehensive and actionable insights."
The researchers demonstrated how their framework could quantify variations in adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as social distancing and mask-wearing across different SES groups. They found that neglecting these factors in models not only misrepresents the spread of diseases but also obscures the effectiveness of public health measures. Their analysis of Hungarian data further highlighted how SES-driven heterogeneities in contact patterns can lead to substantial differences in disease outcomes between groups, underscoring the need for more targeted interventions.
"Our findings suggest that future contact surveys should expand beyond traditional variables like age and include more nuanced socioeconomic data," Dr Perra added. "The inclusion of these factors could dramatically improve the precision of epidemic models and, by extension, the effectiveness of health policies."
The study underscores an urgent need for more comprehensive epidemic modeling frameworks as societies continue to grapple with the lingering impacts of COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics. By expanding beyond the conventional focus on age and context, this new approach opens the door to a more detailed understanding of disease transmission and offers a powerful tool for addressing health inequities.
It is 1988. The Koster archipelago, a group of islands off the Swedish west coast near the border with Norway, is hit by a particularly dense bloom of toxic algae, wiping out marine snail populations. But why would anyone care about the fate of a bunch of snails on a three-square-meter rock in the open sea? As it turns out, this event would open up the opportunity to predict and see evolution unfolding before our eyes.
Before, the islands and their small intertidal skerries—rocky islets—were home to dense and diverse populations of marine snails of the species Littorina saxatilis. While the snail populations of the larger islands—some of which were reduced to less than 1%—were restored within two to four years, several skerries could not seem to recover from this harsh blow.
Marine ecologist Kerstin Johannesson from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, saw a unique opportunity. In 1992, she re-introduced L. saxatilis snails to their lost skerry habitat—starting an experiment that would have far-reaching implications more than 30 years later. It allowed an international collaboration led by researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Nord University, Norway, the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and The University of Sheffield, UK, to predict and witness evolution in the making.
Wave snails and Crab snails
L. saxatilis is a common species of marine snails found throughout the North Atlantic shores, where different populations evolved traits adapted to their environments. These traits include size, shell shape, shell color, and behavior. The differences among these traits are particularly striking between the so-called Crab- and Wave-ecotype. These snails have evolved repeatedly in different locations, either in environments exposed to crab predation or on wave-exposed rocks away from crabs. Wave snails are typically small, and have a thin shell with specific colors and patterns, a large and rounded aperture, and bold behavior. Crab snails, on the other hand, are strikingly larger, have thicker shells without patterns, and a smaller and more elongated aperture. Crab snails also behave more warily in their predator-dominated environment.
The Swedish Koster archipelago is home to these two different L. saxatilis snail types, often neighboring one another on the same island or only separated by a few hundred meters across the sea. Before the toxic algal bloom of 1988, Wave snails inhabited the skerries, while nearby shores were home to both Crab and Wave snails. This close spatial proximity would prove crucial.
Rediscovering old traits
Seeing that the Wave snail population of the skerries was entirely wiped out due to the toxic algae, Johannesson decided in 1992 to reintroduce snails to one of these skerries, but of the Crab-ecotype. With one to two generations each year, she rightfully expected the Crab snails to adapt to their new environment before scientists’ eyes. “Our colleagues saw evidence of the snails’ adaptation already within the first decade of the experiment,” says Diego Garcia Castillo, a graduate student in the Barton Group at ISTA and one of the authors leading the study. “Over the experiment’s 30 years, we were able to predict robustly what the snails will look like and which genetic regions will be implicated. The transformation was both rapid and dramatic,” he adds.
However, the snails did not evolve these traits entirely from scratch. Co-corresponding author Anja Marie Westram, a former postdoc at ISTA and currently a researcher at Nord University, explains, “Some of the genetic diversity was already available in the starting Crab population but at low prevalence. This is because the species had experienced similar conditions in the recent past. The snails’ access to a large gene pool drove this rapid evolution.”
Diversity is key to adaptation
The team examined three aspects over the years of the experiment: the snails’ phenotype, individual gene variabilities, and larger genetic changes affecting entire regions of the chromosomes called “chromosomal inversions”.
In the first few generations, the researchers witnessed an interesting phenomenon called “phenotypic plasticity”: Very soon after their transplantation, the snails modified their shape to adjust to their new environment. But the population also quickly started to change genetically. The researchers could predict the extent and direction of the genetic changes, especially for the chromosomal inversions. They showed that the snails’ rapid and dramatic transformation was possibly due to two complementary processes: A fast selection of traits already present at a low frequency in the transplanted Crab snail population and gene flow from neighboring Wave snails that could have simply rafted over 160 meters to reach the skerry.
Evolution in the face of pollution and climate change
In theory, scientists know that a species with high enough genetic variation can adapt more rapidly to change. However, few studies aimed to experiment with evolution over time in the wild. “This work allows us to have a closer look at repeated evolution and predict how a population could develop traits that have evolved separately in the past under similar conditions,” says Garcia Castillo.
The team now wants to learn how species can adapt to modern environmental challenges such as pollution and climate change. “Not all species have access to large gene pools and evolving new traits from scratch is tediously slow. Adaptation is very complex and our planet is also facing complex changes with episodes of weather extremes, rapidly advancing climate change, pollution, and new parasites,” says Westram. She hopes this work will drive further research on maintaining species with large and diverse genetic makeups. “Perhaps this research helps convince people to protect a range of natural habitats so that species do not lose their genetic variation,” Westram concludes.
Now, the snails Johannesson brought to the skerry in 1992 have reached a thriving population of around 1,000 individuals.
Two ecotypes of Littorina saxatilis marine snails, adapted to different environments.
The Crab ecotype (left) is larger and wary of predators. The Wave ecotype (right) is smaller and has bold behavior.
Credit
David Carmelet
The donor shore of the transplanted snail population (foreground) and the experimental skerry (little dot in the sea to the right).
The experimental skerry in the Koster archipelago off the Swedish west coast.
Crab-ecotype L. saxatilis snails were brought here in 1992 after toxic algae wiped out the original Wave-ecotype population.
Credit
Kerstin Johannesson
Kerstin Johannesson on the experimental skerry
Johannesson is a marine ecologist at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Credit
Bo Johannesson
First author Diego Garcia Castillo, graduate student at ISTA, visiting the experimental skerry.
Credit
Pierre Barry
Swedish L. saxatilis marine snails.
Credit
Daria Shipilina
Information on animal studies
To better understand fundamental processes, for example, in the fields of neuroscience, immunology, or genetics, the use of animals in research is indispensable. No other methods, such as in silico models, can serve as an alternative. The animals are raised, kept, and treated according to the strict regulations of the respective countries. The research with animals was conducted in Sweden.
About ISTA
The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) is a PhD-granting research institution located in Klosterneuburg, 18 km from the center of Vienna, Austria. ISTA employs professors on a tenure-track model, post-doctoral researchers and PhD students. The Graduate School of ISTA offers fully funded PhD positions to highly qualified candidates with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in biology, mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, and related areas. While dedicated to the principle of curiosity-driven research, ISTA aims to deliver scientific findings to society through technological transfer and science education. President of the Institute is Martin Hetzer, a renowned molecular biologist and former Senior Vice President at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, USA. www.ista.ac.at
Predicting rapid adaptation in time from adaptation in space: A 30-year field experiment in marine snails
Article Publication Date
11-Oct-2024
Coffee during pregnancy safe for baby’s brain development
A University of Queensland-led study has failed to find any strong links between drinking coffee during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental difficulties in children
University of Queensland
A University of Queensland-led study has failed to find any strong links between drinking coffee during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental difficulties in children, but researchers are advising expectant mothers to continue following medical guidelines on caffeine consumption.
“Scandinavians are some of the biggest coffee consumers in the world, drinking at least 4 cups a day, with little stigma about drinking coffee during pregnancy,” Dr Moen said.
“Our study used genetic data from mothers, fathers and babies as well as questionnaires about the parents’ coffee consumption before and during pregnancy.
“The participants also answered questions about their child’s development until the age of 8, including their social, motor, and language skills.”
“Our analysis found no link between coffee consumption during pregnancy and children’s neurodevelopmental difficulties.”
The researchers said physiological changes during pregnancy prevent caffeine breaking down easily and it can cross the placenta and reach the foetus, where there are no enzymes to metabolise it.
Caffeine accumulation was thought to impact the developing foetal brain, but Dr Moen said previous observational studies couldn’t account for other environmental factors such as alcohol, cigarette smoke or poor diet.
“We used a method called Mendelian randomisation which uses genetic variants that predict coffee drinking behaviour and can separate out the effect of different factors during pregnancy,” she said.
“It mimics a randomised controlled trial without subjecting pregnant mothers and their babies to any ill effects.
“The benefit of this method is the effects of caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes and diet can be separated in the data, so we can look solely at the impact of caffeine on the pregnancy.”
The researchers use genetic analysis to understand complex traits and diseases especially in early life, with a previous study by Dr Moen showing that drinking coffee in pregnancy did not affect birth weight, risk of miscarriage or stillbirth.
They emphasise the importance of following advice from healthcare providers to limit caffeine consumption during pregnancy, as caffeine may influence other pregnancy outcomes.
The researchers are now looking to apply similar analyses to understand more about genetic and environmental causes of neurodiversity, and the effect of it from other factors on brain development during pregnancy.
The research team included international collaborators in Norway including Professor Alexandra Havdahl from PsychGen Center for Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo and England as well as IMB’s Caroline Brito Nunes, Dr Daniel Hwang and Professor David Evans. The research was conducted using data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).
The research was published in Psychological Medicine.
Mendelian Randomization Analysis of Maternal Coffee Consumption During Pregnancy on Offspring Neurodevelopmental Difficulties in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa)
