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Published on: April 15, 2015
Systems genetics of alcoholism
Chantel D Sloan1, Vicki Sayarath, Jason H Moore
1Section of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
Summary
Systems genetics explores how genetic variations and their interactions contribute to alcoholism risk. This approach investigates intermediate biological processes to understand the complex genome-disease relationship, starting with gene-gene interactions.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Systems Biology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Alcoholism is a complex disease influenced by genetic, social, and environmental factors.
- High heritability of alcoholism has spurred research into genetic and genomic influences on risk.
- High-throughput technologies enable systems-level investigation of genetic susceptibility to common diseases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To understand the complex relationship between the genome and alcoholism risk.
- To investigate intermediate biological processes contributing to disease susceptibility.
- To initiate a systems genetics approach by searching for gene-gene interactions.
Main Methods:
- Systems genetics framework to study genetic variations.
- Analysis of gene-gene interactions (epistasis).
- Examination of gene-environment interactions (plastic reaction norms).
Main Results:
- Identified the complexity of the genetic architecture of alcoholism susceptibility.
- Highlighted the importance of studying intermediate quantitative traits (endophenotypes).
- Emphasized the initial step of searching for epistatic interactions in systems genetics.
Conclusions:
- Systems genetics provides a framework for understanding complex diseases like alcoholism.
- Investigating intermediate biological processes is crucial for linking genotype to phenotype.
- Gene-gene interactions are a key starting point in systems genetics research for alcoholism.
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