Internship in Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of perfluoroalkyl substances

Title: Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of perfluoroalkyl substances

Host laboratory:

You will be integrated into the Man-Technology-Environment research center at Orebro University and will work within the Environment and Health team whose major aim is to study interactions between environmental perturbations, ecosystem resilience, and human health. The Orebro University is modern and ambitious and ranked among the Times Higher Education rankings. It is located in Orebro lan in Sweden center.

For more information about the university and the Man-Technology-Environment research center you can visit the official website: https://www.oru.se/english/research/research-environments/ent/mtm/

Context:

Perfluoroalkyl substances are man-made chemicals that are widely used in firefighting foams, textiles, and paper products. These persistent and bioaccumulating substances have become a major concern for ecosystem conservation and human health.

Through epigenetic mechanisms, the environment can change the organism's phenotype without modifying the DNA sequence and there has been growing concern that epigenetic modifications by pollutants could mediate adverse health outcomes over several generations. Nevertheless, only a few studies have focused on the effects of environmental pollutants on epigenetics, and even less have followed modifications on more than one generation. The molecular pathways involved in epigenetic information transmission also remained unclear and integrated studies are required to overcome this knowledge gap.

Scientific research question:

The EpiTrans project has been launched to study the effects of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFBS and PFOS) on transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in zebrafish.

Experimental approach

The selected candidate will be involved in this project composed of three main tasks: 1. Characterize PFAS impact on transcriptome and look at DNA methylation changes on genes of interest. 2. Observe PFFAs impact on the zebrafish phenotype (behavior, cell morphology, and metabolism). Investigate the transgenerational inheritance of epigenetic changes by analysis of the 2 subsequent unexposed generations.

Supervision:

You will be under the supervision of Manon Fallet, a post-doctoral researcher at MTM, Orebro-University.

Possible prospective tasks of the intern

Animal handling (fish feeding, breeding, dissections, and sampling)

QPCR analysis

Bioinformatic analysis (gene expression, metabolism, DNA methylation…)

Study of fish behavior

Preparation of chemical solutions

Contract duration: 3-6 months

Job Types: Full-time, Internship

Salary: no salary available but the possibility to get Erasmus + funding. 

Contact: Manon Fallet on manon.fallet(at)oru.se