Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: “To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.” -Homer Simpson Alcoholism is unique to humans and uniquely human. Like other dependence and addiction disorders, the diagnosis of an alcohol use disorder depends ultimately on the individual's use of the substance and not necessarily on the continued development of other associated pathologies, such as organ dysfunction or other health problems. Yet, no other psychoactive substance figures so prominently into the life of so many individuals from otherwise disparate cultures. There is no animal model of alcohol abuse or dependence. The complexity of these traits guarantees that no single animal behavioral test will ever capture all or even most of the salient features of these diseases. Similarly, there is no genetic animal model in any set of environmental conditions that is an ideal surrogate for the complexity of humans acting in a human society. However, ethanol acts in areas of the brain that are evolutionarily conserved among mammals by impinging on signaling cascades that are highly conserved among even most metazoans, implying that alcohol-related findings in ‘simple’ organisms should generalize to humans. Further, animal models of alcohol-related disorders allow a much more intimate dissection of the environmental and genetic contributions to species-relevant behaviors than is possible (or ethical) with human studies. The purpose of this special interest section of G2B is to highlight some of the methodologies being employed among various genetic model organisms in the alcohol behavior genetics community. These papers provide a survey of organisms used to study genetic influences on alcohol-related behavior including C. elegans, zebrafish, mice, rats, and rhesus macaques. The final paper included in this special interest section highlights one strategy used in humans to determine genetic contributions to alcohol endophenotypes. In all of these papers a variety of genetic and molecular techniques are employed. Our hope for this issue is to foster a stronger sense of community among researchers using different model organisms and humans to study alcohol-related disorders. Christopher L. Kliethermes 1 and Helen M. Kamens 2
Source: Genes Brain & Behavior
Institutions: University of California, San Francisco, Yale University
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2411420886