Genetics and Health

April 19th, 2006

Genetics of Alcohol Drinking

Alcohol addiction is a good example of the complex interplay between genes and environment (if alcohol didn’t exist, we wouldn’t have alcoholics). A recent study of mice has found 3,800 unique genes that vary between high and low amounts of voluntary alcohol consumption. Sorting this large number of genes into functional groups implicated:

Mitogen-activated […]

By Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD -- 1 comment

April 13th, 2006

Chromosome 17 and Drug Dependence

Two clusters of genes on chromosome 17 have been linked to opioid addiction - heroin, morphine and oxycontin. A linkage analysis of 393 families, most with at least two individuals with opioid dependence, scanned the genome for genetic markers that appear to be inherited more frequently between affected family members.
Dr. Joel Gelernter of […]

By Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD -- 1 comment