MicMice who have a certain gene variant are extra-sensitive to alcohol, according to a study in the journal PLos Genetics.

Dr. David Speca and his colleagues at the University of California in San Francisco nicknamed these mice "Lightweights" because when they inject the animals with alcohol, "they were knocked out for far longer than normal mice." Mice with the variant consume more alcohol than normal mice when offered a choice between alcohol or water.

Studies of human twins indicate that there is a genetic component to alcoholism in humans.
 

Labels: alcoholism, genetics

Posted By: Jane St. Clair