https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rats-offer-clues-biology-alcoholism?tgt=nr
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Rats give clues about alcoholism
In a study being conducted since 1980', rats at Indiana University School of Medicine have been given the choice between pure water or water mixed with 10% ethanol. Over 40 generations the researchers have selected the rats that voluntarily chose to drink the alcohol water and specifically bred them to create "heavy drinker rats" these rats drink the equivalent of 25 human beers a day. They then compared the genes of the alcoholic rat to the genes of the non alcoholic rat and what they saw was truly a difference. Before this study scientist thought that alcoholism came from inserting altered forms of genes that produce faulty proteins.
I personally feel like alcoholism is usually overlooked and seen as a disease, but it is definitely a genetic predisposition which can and can not come out in future generations. If scientist can pinpoint the genetics that create alcoholism maybe they can inform people of whether or not they are genetically wired to potentially have alcoholism.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rats-offer-clues-biology-alcoholism?tgt=nr
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rats-offer-clues-biology-alcoholism?tgt=nr
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It is interesting to read that alcoholism is not a disease but a genetic disorder. What alcoholic people don't realize is that they could be passing their alcoholic genes down to their children. Could this be motivation for alcoholics to quit? Can someone who is predisposed to alcoholism, not become an alcoholic?
ReplyDelete