From the April 2007 Scientific American Magazine | 1 comments

Seeking the Connections: Alcoholism and Our Genes ( Preview )

Identifying genetic influences on vulnerability to alcohol addiction can lead to more targeted treatments and help those at risk to make informed choices about their own lives

By John I. Nurnberger, Jr., and Laura Jean Bierut

More to Explore

Infographic
Signatures in the Brain
Infographic
Risky Genes
Overview
Seeking Alcoholism Genes
Infographic
Finding Links Through Families

More from the Magazine

April
2007 Issue
SciAm Perspectives Caution: Sharp Edges
Skeptic Free to Choose
Antigravity Doughnut Try This at Home
Buy the Digital Edition

The tendency to become dependent on alcohol has long been known to run in families, which for some only added to the social stigma attached to this complicated condition. But to scientists, that apparent heritability suggested that some genetic component underlying vulnerability to alcohol problems was being transmitted from generation to generation.

With rapid advances over the past 10 years in technologies for discovering and analyzing the functions of genes, researchers are now increasingly able to get at the biological roots of complex disorders such as substance abuse and addiction. The power to examine patterns of inheritance in large populations, and to survey hundreds of thousands of tiny variations in the genomes of each of those individuals, enables investigators to pinpoint specific genes that exert strong or subtle influences on a person's physiology and his or her resulting risk for disease.

Already a Digital subscriber? Sign-in Now
If your institution has site license access, enter here.

Read Comments (1) | Post a comment

You Might Also Like

Discuss This Article

Click here to submit your comment.

VIEW:



	Email:
	Name:
	Address:
	Address 2:
	City:
	State:

Subscription Center

Editor's Pick

Adapting to the Freshwater CrisisForward-thinking experts are getting a better handle on the growing global water shortage and coming up with innovative approaches to ensuring the security, safety and sustainability of this resource