Monday, November 9, 2009

Drunken Fruit Flies Help Scientists Find Potential Drug Target For Alcoholism

Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) breeding in a test tube.
(Credit: iStockphoto/Joe Pogliano)

From Science Daily:


Science Daily (Nov. 7, 2009) — A group of drunken fruit flies have helped researchers from North Carolina State and Boston universities identify entire networks of genes -- also present in humans -- that play a key role in alcohol drinking behavior.

This discovery, published in the October 2009 print issue of the journal Genetics, provides a crucial explanation of why some people seem to tolerate alcohol better than others, as well as a potential target for drugs aimed at preventing or eliminating alcoholism. In addition, this discovery sheds new light on many of the negative side effects of drinking, such as liver damage.

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