SCIENTISTS LOCATE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ALCOHOLISM GENE

WASHINGTON -- Researchers mapping the highway of human heredity have found
some streets that may lead to alcoholism.

Their work could lead to ways of identifying youngsters most at risk of
becoming alcoholics and helping them avoid that future.

An estimated 14 million Americans suffer from alcoholism and it has long
been known that the problem runs in families. But it had not been clear if
it was inherited or a result of environment, Dr. Enoch Gordis, director of
the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said yesterday.

Now, he said, researchers have concluded that inheritance plays a role and
they have located likely neighborhoods for the genes that can lead to
trouble.

"These genes are for risk, not for destiny," Gordis stressed at a National
Press Club briefing.

He said further studies to locate the exact genes could lead to treatments
for alcoholism, more focused prevention efforts and better understanding of
the role of environment and the working of the human brain.

Genes are portions of the human chromosome, a pair of long molecules in
each cell that determine the characteristics of the person. Each parent
provides one of the two paired chromosomes. Some inherited diseases have
been found to result from faulty genes.

"Alcoholism is multi-gene, it is not due to a mutation in a single gene,"
Gordis said. "In all likelihood, it is a handful of genes."

"No single factor, whether it's genetics or environment, is sufficient to
cause" alcoholism, added Dr. Jeffrey Long of the National Institutes of
Health. "So we're looking for things that shift the balance."

Long likened DNA, the major constituent of the chromosome, to a highway 500
miles long in which the scientists are able to locate mile markers.

The studies reported yesterday have located mile markers that show promise
as areas related to alcoholism. Now the challenge is to find the specific
genes, which Long said would correspond to an area of perhaps a few feet
between mile markers.

By identifying the specific genes, doctors could then determine who might
be a "carrier" of the propensity to alcoholism, he said. Even if that
person did not become an alcoholic, it could be useful to know that they
might transmit the gene.

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)