Suseptibility of Addiction

New research, to a growing body of literature suggests there is a substantial genetic influence on susceptibility to nicotine addiction (Satti, 2011). In the past few years, researchers around the world have zeroed in on various genetic regions believed to be involved in one’s vulnerability to addiction. For example, one person may reach for a cigarette soon after waking, smokes a pack a day, and cannot seem to quit. Another smokes a few cigarettes now and then but never feels driven by the need for nicotine. A third person has smoked for a while in youth and then stopped. According to several recent NIDA-funded studies, such differing smoking patterns and responses may arise because individuals inherit different forms of half a dozen genes that dictate the features of the brain receptor to which nicotine binds. Some have studied genes that control certain neurotransmitters in the brain, while others have looked at genes related to addictive traits Research done by scientists like Satti, claim that they have found that genetic link that makes people more susceptible to being addicted to cigarettes. One of these studies that show how genes affect addiction is a study from the Society of Addiction in 2008. This study linked a person’s first experiences with smoking, and the probability that a person is currently a smoker, to a specific genetic variation.. The trait analysis that was done reported an association between a variant in the CHRNA5 (nicotine receptor gene) to a person’s initial smoking experiences and to their current smoking patterns. The CHRNA5 gene is a member of a series gated ligand ion channels that facilitate quick signal transmissions to the brain. The results they found through this study were that regular smokers were far more likely than the people who have never smoked to have the less common rs16969968 form of the CHRNA5 gene. Only one base-pair of the gene sequence make the difference from the more common form. This sort of genetic