Genetics of alcoholism: an overview

There is little doubt that human alcoholism carries a significant genetic risk factor. Studies in Scandinavia over many years and more recently elsewhere have clearly shown this relationship. However, we do not know what characteristics or determinants of alcoholism are inherited and this is the focus of current research. Animal genetic studies have contributed to the field and promise to be even more important in the future in defining the neurochemical basis of behavior observed in human alcoholics. The premise that understanding the enzymology and genetics of alcohol metabolism alone would solve the alcoholism problem has not materialized in spite of major advances in the understanding of the enzymes responsible for ethanol metabolism.