title: Genetics and genomics of alcohol sensitivity.
abstract: Alcohol abuse and alcoholism incur a heavy socioeconomic cost in many countries. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to variation in the inebriating effects of alcohol and alcohol addiction among individuals within and across populations. From a genetics perspective, alcohol sensitivity is a quantitative trait determined by the cumulative effects of multiple segregating genes and their interactions with the environment. This review summarizes insights from model organisms as well as human populations that represent our current understanding of the genetic and genomic underpinnings that govern alcohol metabolism and the sedative and addictive effects of alcohol on the nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Box 7617, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7617, USA.
authors.forename: Tatiana V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Morozova
authors.forename: Trudy F C
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Mackay
authors.forename: Robert R H
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Anholt
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol